False Witness
by Questfan
Summary: Lucas finds himself on the run after being accused of a crime he did not commit.
1. Chapter 1

**It probably isn't a great idea to be starting a new story, given my time restraints, but this story just will NOT go away. So be warned that updates may not come as quickly as you would like, but I promise I will finish it.**

**Thankyou again to all the fantastic readers who helped me retrieve "What If?" It made me realise how much I've missed writing so I blame all of you for this story! Seriously though, I love writing and I hate not having time for it so I'm trying to find a balance here between the stuff I need to do and the stuff I want to do. I hope you enjoy while I give Lucas a hard time once again :-)**

**Oh and just for the record - I don't own seaQuest, just in case you were unsure about that! But I do like messing with it!**

**False Witness **

**Chapter One**

He tugged at the boy's hand again. When the child refused to move, he glanced back into a small face filled with terror.

"It's going to be OK," he whispered. The child didn't seem to hear him and continued to stare blindly into the space behind them.

He tried again, a little more forcefully this time. "It's going to be OK, Micah. We just have to get down to the launch bay and I can get us out of here. I promise!" The last words were out of his mouth before he realised, but they echoed in his ears. How could he promise such a thing? There were armed guards everywhere and they were searching for just one thing. _Them_!

He crouched down in front of the traumatized boy and gently cupped his face towards his own. "Micah, if it's the last thing I do, I promise, I _will_ get you out of here. You just have to hold my hand and come, _now_."

Micah finally reacted at the closeness of their faces and he began to cry. "Papa!" The word fell out of his mouth in an anguished moan. Lucas realised his small charge wasn't going to be able to move himself anywhere so he reached out and scooped up the boy. He was surprised at how heavy a six year old could be, but he stood up and gently maneuvered the child onto his back.

He glanced across the open space and took a tentative step around the corner. There was no sound of anybody in the immediate area so he began to edge along the wall. From memory, the launch bay was two floors down, but he couldn't be sure he was heading in the right direction for the stairwell. The lift was too dangerous an option as they could be easily cornered and the grand stairway was too open. The service stairwell was his best option and he hoped he could find it soon.

He hadn't thought it would take them this long, but Micah's reluctance to move had slowed them down considerably. It wasn't really surprising given what the child had just witnessed, but Lucas knew the longer he took to get to the launch bay, the less chance they had of escape. It was only a matter of time before there were vessels sweeping the area but he hoped the size of the Stinger would mean he could drift through their search pattern unnoticed.

Micah wrapped his arms around Lucas' neck and buried his face into his back. Lucas could feel the tremors of fear coursing through his small body and he wished he could do something to stop them. He continued along the wall, stopping every few feet to check for sounds of pursuit.

Finally they reached a door marked "Staff Only" and Lucas pushed against the rail handle, hoping it wasn't locked. The rail refused to budge and he cursed under his breath. They didn't have time to waste picking a lock, but there was no other way for them to sneak down to the launch bay. He glanced back at Micah and tried to disentangle the boy from his back. Micah clung on tighter and Lucas was forced to crouch down and try again.

"Come on, buddy. I need to get the door open and I need both hands free." He tried to pry Micah's fingers apart and finally the child loosened his grip. As he slid to the floor, Lucas spun around to grab his hands. "OK, this should just take a minute." He smiled encouragingly at the child and quickly stood up to get to work on the panel beside the door.

It was a basic control module and it only took a few tweaks and crossed wires before he heard the soft click of the latch giving way. He pushed at the door and turned back to grab Micah's hand. Before he could move through the door he heard the sound of heavy boots running up the corridor. Micah stood rooted to the spot and Lucas grabbed at his shoulder.

"Come on, Micah!" he hissed. The child refused to move, but the footsteps were closing on them rapidly. He reached down and grabbed Micah's arm and pulled him towards the open doorway. Micah stared at him in confusion and then swung back to see the guard who had made it around the corner.

Before Lucas could react the guard had raised his rifle and fired. There was no time to think as he yanked Micah backwards through the door. Lucas felt his body jerked sideways and he rushed forward to slam the door shut. He had already fried the control circuit on the other side and there was no way to re-lock the door. Suddenly the guard was pushing at the door handle as Lucas frantically wedged a shoe under it. It wasn't much, but each second counted and he hoped it would be enough. He stood up to grab Micah's hand again and was surprised to see the child pull away from him. Micah looked like he was going to scream and Lucas reached out to quiet him. He knew the solo guard would have probably called it in already, but there was no need to alert anyone else nearby if he could avoid it.

Micah continued to back away from him, his eyes wide with fright. With the adrenaline of the moment still racing through his body it took Lucas a moment to realise what was frightening the child so much. He looked down and for the first time he registered the sticky feeling on his t-shirt.

The guard was still pounding on the door behind him and Lucas could hear another voice had joined him. He quickly pulled his flannel shirt around him to cover the spreading patch on his t-shirt and started again to pick up the boy in front of him. He groaned at the weight pushing into his side, but began the long climb down the next flight of stairs. He knew it was just a matter of time before other guards entered the stairwell from the bottom so he prayed, that just maybe, luck would be on his side and he could get out of the stairwell before they got there.

* * *

Captain Bridger leaned back in his chair as he flipped the last report closed. It felt good to finish a pile of overdue paperwork. The idea of a paperless society had first been mooted many years ago but somehow the name "paperwork" had never really gone out of use. He smiled slightly as he recalled a conversation he had been having with Lucas only last week about how computers had single-handedly saved the world's remaining rainforests.

The memory of the conversation made him glance at his watch. He would have liked to call the teenager and see how he was going, but Lucas would no doubt be sound asleep as it was well past 3am on the Hope Colony. The call would just have to wait until tomorrow.

**A/N Yep I know it's short but I'm just reeling you in! Be back soon I hope.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thankyou to all the lovely reviewers. Yeah, I actually surprised myself by coming back, but I guess my closet elfiness was tired of being ignored! Anyway, it's always helpful to hear what people think about what you write so thanks for taking the time. **

**Chapter Two**

**8 days earlier …**

"You have _got_ to be joking!"

Bridger looked up at the teenager and tried not to smile. "You know, Lucas, not everybody on the planet is online twenty four hours a day. Believe it or not the world did still turn before the computer was even invented!"

Lucas rolled his eyes and nodded. "I know that, Captain, but … _seriously_? Not even a basic Internex port? C'mon!"

"So do you maybe think the job is beyond you?" Bridger quickly turned and made a pretense of returning to his seat to cover the bemused look on his face.

"It's not that! I just … it's just that … well … the name Luddite springs to mind!"

"That's not fair. These people haven't destroyed anything. They have just decided they want to live life at a different pace."

"I know that, Captain but if they wanted to live so disconnected from the rest of the world, why do they now need me to bring them out of the Stone Age?"

"I'm guessing you've read about the Amish people, right?"

Lucas just nodded at him as he leaned back in his chair.

"Well they migrated to a new land and took their own culture with them. For a long time they lived outside the "normal" pace of things and they were ridiculed for doing things differently. A lot of their rules and ways of doing things seemed very foreign to the modern world around them. Some things even seemed contradictory to outsiders. And yet they survived and even thrived. Their religious beliefs and their family were the most important things to them and they believed that their lifestyle was the best way to preserve that."

"But, Captain, there aren't any traditional Amish people left. They eventually realised they had to join the rest of society."

Bridger nodded slowly. "Sadly, yes. Lucas, how many cultures have been swallowed up by bigger, stronger, better-armed cultures over the centuries? How many people groups have been decimated because they wouldn't change their lifestyle to suit newcomers?"

Lucas frowned at the words. "Too many I guess."

"Exactly! Well the people of Hope Colony don't want to be the next statistic in the history books. They chose to live in relative isolation and preserve a lifestyle that they wanted for themselves and their descendants. They obviously do have technology but nobody is quite sure what is there since outsiders haven't been allowed in much. The fact they have shunned the Internex was believed to be about keeping others out more than anything else. Now, apparently their leadership has decided they want to broaden their horizons."

"And that's where I come in. But, Captain, I don't see how I can possibly redesign an entire colony!"

"They aren't asking you to. Lucas, Admiral Noyce thought you would jump at this chance. He wants an evaluation from you of what they need and some ideas on how the UEO can help them implement it. He felt that you would be able to gain their trust since you aren't military and you aren't coming at this from a place of intellectual superiority."

"Yeah I can imagine some of the industry tech-heads getting in there!" Suddenly another thought occurred to him. "Hey, it isn't that far from Node 3. Can I bring Nick along?"

It was Bridger's turn to roll his eyes now. "I can just see the headlines now. _Frankenstein and Wolfman play SIMS with underwater colony!_"

"Come on, Captain! We may have some vintage games but there are a lot better programs than SIMS to work with."

Bridger stood up and walked around the desk before settling on the front of it. "So? What do you think?"

Lucas chewed the inside of his lip for a moment before answering. "Why not? Maybe when I'm done they'll rename the colony after me!" He grinned at the captain before standing up. "How soon before they want me there?"

"We can be there by late tomorrow afternoon if you are sure you are OK with going."

Lucas headed towards the door, his mind already beginning to tick over. He suddenly spun back towards the captain. "They _do_ have electricity there don't they? I mean I won't need to take my own generator?"

"Get outta here!" Bridger waved an arm at him as Lucas ducked out the door.

"This should be interesting!" he muttered to himself as he sat back down.

"Bridge, get me through to Admiral Noyce."

* * *

Lucas shifted Micah onto his back again before heading down the stairwell. The pain in his side was constant, but he managed to push it aside for the moment. He wasn't game enough to look too closely as his priority was to get them to the Stinger. Everything else would just have to wait.

He was torn between hurrying down the stairs and going cautiously to keep an ear out for guards coming up from the bottom. He knew the guards from above would break through the door any minute now so if anybody came through the lower door it was all over. Eventually the need to hurry won out and he raced down the stairs as fast as he dared. He was surprised at how much he was puffing, but he pushed on and finally reached the bottom door.

He fully expected it to be locked as the one above was and was surprised when the rail moved under his hand. He carefully eased the door open and waited to see if anybody was in the vicinity. He could see part way into the launch bay and was dismayed to hear two guards on the other side of the room. They could only be there for one purpose; guarding the Stinger to block his escape.

He eased the door shut and felt like banging his head against it. There was no way they could go back up and now apparently there was no way they could go out that door either.

"I need a diversion," he muttered to himself. "Something to draw them away." He scratched at his head while he tried to recall the colony schematics he had been reading over the past week. Micah shifted on his back and Lucas turned back to him.

"Can I put you down for a minute?" Micah's eyes widened but he didn't say anything.

Lucas took that as a yes. Well at least it wasn't a no, so he crouched down and helped the boy slide onto the floor. "We have to be very quiet, OK?" Again Micah just stared at him as Lucas placed a finger over his own lips.

He glanced around and tried to remember if there was anything helpful leading into the stairwell. A few feet back up the stairs he noticed a ventilation grid and he clambered back up the stairs towards it. He wasn't sure if he could fit through but there weren't any other options that he could see. The fascia over it was fairly easy to pry loose and he began to ease his legs into the hole. Micah was still standing at the bottom of the stairs and he waved a hand to him. "C'mon! We can both get through here."

Micah hesitated before Lucas waved at him again. He thought he was going to have to crawl back out of the hole and retrieve the child, but finally Micah stumbled towards him. He wriggled further into the space and reached out for Micah's hand. "We can hide in here away from the bad men. They can't hurt us in here."

Micah nodded slightly before moving towards the hole. Lucas reached out for him and managed to squeeze the child past him into the darkness of the access tube. It was a tight fit but he hoped that meant no adults could immediately come after them. He pulled the grill back into place, knowing it wouldn't take long for the guards to figure out where they had gone. If it bought them a few more minutes then it was a bit more time he had to think how to get to the Stinger.

"OK, Micah, I'm right behind you. You have to crawl forward but I'm right behind you." He hoped the frightened child wouldn't freeze in the dark but he gradually began to wriggle forward.

As they inched slowly into the darkness Lucas could hear the sound of a door crashing open above them. Heavy footsteps pelted down the stairs past them and another door crashed open at the bottom. He half expected to hear gunfire but there was nothing but loud cursing.

* * *

Bridger stepped through the clam doors and onto the Bridge. He took a sip of coffee before walking over towards Commander Ford.

"Anything interesting to report from the watch, Commander?"

"Steady as she goes, Captain." He smiled slightly before continuing. "Actually, Sir, we did see a few interesting rocks a while back. Should I get Ortiz to get you a WSKR view?"

Bridger smiled in return. "_That_ exciting huh?" He glanced around as the crew smoothly changed shift around him. The handover process was always the same but some days it was definitely easier than others.

O'Neill had barely had time to slide into his seat and place his headphones on before a priority UEO communications signal began to flash at him.

"Captain, I've got a priority call coming in from Admiral Noyce."

"Well put him through, Lieutenant; main screen."

The UEO logo flashed momentarily on the view screen before it gave way to the Admiral's face.

"Good mor … "

"Nathan! When was the last time you spoke with Lucas?"

Bridger was surprised at the abruptness of the question but didn't waste time answering, "The day before yesterday. I was going to call him last night but got busy and realised it was too late his time for me to call. Why?"

Noyce frowned and scrubbed a hand over his face before answering. "I don't know how to tell you this but the leader of Hope Colony has been murdered and his six year old son is missing." He paused a moment to allow that to sink in before continuing. "They think that Lucas did it."

Bridger almost laughed except the look on his friend's face was entirely serious. "What! He's been there all of five minutes! And how could anybody possibly think Lucas could murder somebody? And kidnap a child? Bill, what the hell is going on?"

Noyce leaned forward in his chair. "Nathan they claim to have proof. Lucas is clearly visible on security footage going into their quarters and later leaving there dragging the child out with him. His fingerprints are all over the place."

"I don't care! There has to be a reasonable explanation for that. Come on Bill! Do you seriously think Lucas could have_ murdered_ somebody?"

"No, of course I don't but he's squarely in the frame. And that isn't the worst of it."

"What could possibly be _worse_?"

"The security officer in charge has issued a shoot on sight order."

"What happened to a trial before hanging? Or don't they believe in giving a man a chance to prove his innocence?"

The Admiral shook his head. "Apparently they already cornered him but he refused to give himself up. They say he has a child as a hostage and the use of deadly force has been approved to save the child."

"Bill, this is preposterous! What sort of proof are they talking about? Where's the footage? If they actually have something I want a copy of it."

Noyce frowned as he leaned down to punch a button on his desk. The main view screen on the _seaQuest _split into two images as closed circuit footage began to flow through. It was patchy and of poor quality; most likely from a very old system. That didn't stop each of them from clearly seeing Lucas knocking on a door and being ushered into a room. The footage sped up as the Admiral fast-forwarded it before coming to the part where the door flew open. Again, Lucas was clearly visible as he cautiously stepped out into the corridor. He dragged a small child behind him and fled out of view of the camera.

"Is that it? He came out of someone's room with a child?" Bridger crossed his arms and glared at the Admiral.

"It wasn't just "someone's" room. It was the residential quarters of Samuel Aroro; the Hope Colony leader. Apparently the time clock on the footage matches for his estimated time of death. The boy is his son, Micah and I'm sorry, Nathan, but there's more."

Bridger swallowed hard and looked back at the screen with trepidation. "What more?"

Again the screen split in two as more CC footage flowed through. Lucas could be seen doing something to a control console beside a door. The child was standing beside him and as Lucas opened the door he pulled Micah through with him. Even though there was no sound with the footage, everyone on the bridge could see as something ricocheted off the door.

"What was that?" Ford leaned in closer to the captain.

"Apparently they still use projectile weapons on Hope Colony, Commander."

"Are you serious? Where would they get ammunition these days?"

Ford could see Bridger clench his fists and what had begun as an easy shift change had suddenly become a whole different scenario.

Noyce punched the button again to clear the footage and he stared wearily at his friend. "Nathan, we are trying to get a UEO team in there but the colony has told us to stay out. They think we've brought Lucas in to sabotage them and nobody wants to talk to us."

Without turning to look, Bridger curtly issued orders for the helmsman to set course for Hope Colony at full speed.

"Well they are damn well gonna talk to _me_!"

**A/N I had chunks of this chapter written when I posted Chapter 1 but I only have a sketch of the next chapter so it might be a while.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Now I know why writers talk about plot bunnies. They jump up and down until you take notice of them and if you try to ignore them they chew your leg off! I got bored trying to prepare an audit so came back to do some more on this. Words are so much more fun than numbers!**

**Thanks for the kind reviews and I hope you enjoy the next installment.**

**Chapter Three**

Lucas continued to coax Micah along the length of the access tube until they finally came to a junction. The sound of shouting had faded behind them, but he knew it wouldn't be long before their escape route was discovered. He had no idea where it was going to come out, but he tried to plot their movements in his head and take an educated guess.

Finally he saw light beginning to filter into the tube and he knew they were getting close to another access hatch. He would have whispered to Micah to keep quiet, but it seemed unnecessary. After all, he had only spoken one word since they had fled from his quarters.

He closed his eyes briefly and tried to squeeze out the image that flashed into his mind. Samuel had been sprawled across the lounge with blood streaming from his left temple. It was clear he was dead and Lucas hadn't even bothered to check for a pulse. Whoever had done it hadn't waited around to check their handiwork. It had been only moments before that he heard the distinctive sound of pistol shots; something he had only ever heard in old movies.

Lucas shook his head to try to clear his vision and concentrate on their current surroundings. There would be time to process later. Right now he needed to get to the Stinger.

As he stopped in view of the hatch he signaled to Micah to wait. He hoped the child would understand but whether or not he did, he waited where he was. Finally Lucas decided there were no guards outside and he began to pry at the hatch cover. Like everything else on the colony it was quite old and dated and it came loose fairly easily.

He swung his legs out into the room and held his breath. Half expecting to be shot at again he hesitantly slid out to the ground. He quickly looked around before reaching up to assist Micah out of the hole. He flinched at the pain that rolled down his side as he lifted the child's weight. After putting Micah down he reluctantly pulled his flannel shirt aside and looked at the bloodstain that had seeped across his t-shirt and down onto the top of his jeans. He wasn't game enough to lift the shirt and look underneath. He figured if he couldn't do anything about it then it was probably best not to know the full extent of it. Stress about one thing at a time.

"Where's a doctor when you need one?" he muttered. He wondered how he could stop the wound from bleeding, but there was nothing even remotely useful in the area. Finally he pulled off his flannel shirt and began to rip both sleeves out of the shirt before he discarded the rest of it on the floor. Without lifting the t-shirt he wadded one sleeve into a pad and stuffed it up against his side. He almost yelped in pain as he laid the other sleeve across it and reached around with his free hand to grab the other end. It wasn't pretty, but for a field dressing it would have to do.

"Come on, we're nearly there." He pulled at Micah's hand again and headed out into the hallway. He guessed they had come out one room over from the launch bay and he looked around for another point of entry.

* * *

'How hard can it be to find them? I know Noyce said he's a genius, but this is one kid against grown men who all know their way around here far better than he does!"

"I'm sorry, but we thought we had him and he managed to give us the slip."

"Well we can't afford any outside interference. He _cannot _be allowed to speak to anybody in the UEO. They are the ones who tried to take what is ours by sending in a wolf in sheep's clothing."

"I've got two men in the launch bay and the others are closing the net. There's nowhere for him to run, unless he can hold his breath for two hours to swim to the surface."

"You think this is funny?"

"Uh, no, Sir! I just meant he has no way to get out of the colony except through the launch bay and we've got it covered."

"Well the UEO has been requesting to bring a diplomatic team here. I don't want them to have the chance to spread any propaganda by claiming his innocence! So far I've been able to block them but Branson says the _seaQuest_ is now trying to contact us. We can't ignore them forever and once they get here we can't hope to hold them out. Our problem needs to be lying dead on a slab by then so we can present them with their traitor and they can go away!"

The younger man looked across at his temporary new leader and wondered how things had changed so quickly. Daniel was a man he had always looked up to and hoped to emulate. For the first time he could recall he was beginning to waiver on that conviction. Then again, maybe the fact the man's brother had just been murdered and his nephew was missing was enough to justify his aggressive behavior. After all, if they had to swap places he wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't be making the same decisions.

* * *

"Think! Think!" Lucas paced across the small room. "We've gotta get them out of there, but how?" He muttered to himself as he paced but nothing seemed to be coming to mind.

"Why would they leave the area? … … if they were called on the radio … … nope, don't have one of those."

Micah sat on a bench top and stared at him as he paced. He didn't move, but his eyes tracked back and forth as Lucas talked to himself.

" OK … … what if there was a PA announcement? _They_ don't have one of those!" He screwed his eyes shut and tried to force a plan from what little he had available.

"Some kind of evac!" He snapped his fingers as the idea began to form. "OK, OK that could work! All right, so how are we gonna make one of those happen?"

Suddenly a possible answer came to mind. At least it seemed like his best option given their timeframe and the possibility of impending capture. He shuddered to think what that would mean. Whoever had shot Samuel, hadn't cared that his small son would be the one to find his body so to Lucas' mind, that meant they were capable of a whole lot more.

"I've got it!" Lucas spun back towards Micah and grinned at him. "We make them think the launch bay is flooding and they'll have to leave." Without waiting to see if the boy responded Lucas raced over to a control terminal and began inspecting wires.

"OK we need to fake a flood without actually _making _a flood." He kept unthreading layers of wires and pausing to check what each one led to.

"Don't wanna do that! That would be very, very …" he paused as he realised Micah was watching him with fresh fear written all over his face. " … _not_ cool." Finally he found what he wanted and he paused to look back at Micah. "Cross your fingers. We only get one shot at this."

He smiled encouragingly as Micah actually crossed his small fingers and held them up for Lucas to see.

* * *

Ford knocked briskly on the wardroom door before pushing it open. As he entered the room he caught the tail end of a transmission on the view screen. He presumed it was Admiral Noyce again, hopefully with some better news.

Bridger just nodded at him before gesturing for Ford to sit down. "I've just spoken with Lawrence and filled him in."

"Any chance he's heard from Lucas?"

"No such luck! It's been over a month since they last spoke. He didn't even know Lucas was at Hope Colony."

Ford just looked at Bridger but chose to say nothing. He knew his captain walked an impossible line most of the time. He wasn't Lucas' father and yet he had to make day-to-day decisions over his welfare since Lucas was still a minor. While he was the commanding officer of the _seaQuest_, Lucas wasn't military so some of the rules were blurry to say the least. This wasn't the first time Lucas had "forgotten" to inform his father of his plans and Bridger had been left to salvage things after the fact.

"I've asked him to contact us if he hears anything at all. What's our ETA, Jonathan?"

"A little over nine hours."

"Is anybody answering our hails yet?"

"Sorry, Sir, but Tim is still broadcasting. They have to pick up the phone eventually."

Bridger shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Well we've been knocking but if they don't answer soon I'm gonna bust in their front door." The words came out in a level tone but the anger behind them was unmistakable.

Jonathan just nodded. News of the accusations against Lucas had spread through much of the crew and he knew that nobody believed a word of it. If Lucas was being used as a scapegoat, then the easiest way to cover up what really happened was to silence the goat.

He was acutely aware of just how far away they were and how long that meant Lucas had to fend for himself. Knowing how concerned he was, he could only hazard a guess at what was going on in his captain's mind. After all, he was the one who talked Lucas into going in the first place.

* * *

"What the hell is that?"

"It says we've got a major leak!"

The two men looked at each other, trying to see where water could be coming from. The sensors had just set off an alarm but neither of them could see any evidence of a problem.

"Do you see where?"

"Nope, but you know these old systems can take a while to crank up. I say we've got to get out of here. If it's a false alarm the worst that happens is we look stupid."

"And get blasted by Pederson!"

"Yeah, well I don't know about you, but I think he's gone a little overboard here. I mean a "shoot to kill" order against a kid? Seems over the top to me. And that alarm is still going off. If it's right we haven't got long before those watertight doors seal themselves. We can debate this later but right now, I say we _move_!"

The two of them just nodded at each other before heading out the door and sealing it behind them.

* * *

Lucas waited another five minutes before taking a chance at the door. If his gamble had paid off then the guards had been spooked enough to clear out. If it hadn't, then it was probably all over anyway. He eased the door open and waited to see if he could hear anything from inside. The alarm was still blaring out its warning. He took that as a good sign that nobody had figured out his ruse and just turned it off.

Lucas turned back to give Micah's hand a squeeze before leading him out into the open room. He glanced around nervously as he inched out of their hiding place.

"I guess it worked." He turned back to smile at Micah before leading the way over to his Stinger. He still half expected somebody to leap out of the shadows, but apparently his rigged alarm had done its job.

It only took him a few minutes to get over to the small craft, but he could see that getting in wasn't going to be so easy. There was a ladder leading down the side of the platform and somehow he had to get himself in first. He crouched down in front of Micah and placed his hands gently on his shoulders.

"Remember the man I said could help us?"

Micah nodded slightly at him.

"Well the only way we can get to him is in that. You remember how much fun it was the other day?" Lucas had been able to take Micah for a short run in the Stinger only days earlier and the boy had squealed with delight when the submersible dropped below the waterline. Again he nodded, but this time a slight smile appeared on his face.

"OK then. I need to get in first and you will need to climb down after me." Micah looked at him but didn't nod this time. Last time he had done this, his father had been right behind him and he had passed the boy down to Lucas. Hoping to head off the memory and potential tears, Lucas began to climb down the ladder. After settling himself in the seat he reached up to Micah.

"Come on, it's easy. Just four rungs and I've got you." He beckoned to the frightened boy, but he refused to move. Water lapped at the side of the Stinger as Lucas' movements caused small ripples in the surface.

While trying to think what to say to ease his fear, a loud hammering began on the far door. Somebody had figured out his alarm wasn't real and now they were only moments away.

"Micah! You have to come. Please it's just four small rungs. I'm here at the bottom, I promise." He began to ease himself back up into a standing position in order to reach the child and pull him in if necessary. The Stinger lurched to the side and he had to grab at the edge of the platform to keep himself steady.

Micah was staring at the door and the sounds of hammering, but Lucas' clumsy grab caught his attention. He edged closer and finally began to climb down the ladder. Lucas sat back down and tried to steady the Stinger before reaching out to lift Micah the last part of the way in. He swore under his breath at the intensity of the pain running across his abdomen and blinked back tears.

Micah almost fell into his lap and Lucas reached around him to pull the canopy closed over them. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination or the tears making his eyesight blurry, but he thought he caught a glimpse of movement above them as the water quickly closed over their heads.

Either way, he tried to maneuver them out into the access tunnel as quickly as possible. The colony only had a basic launch bay and he hoped to get them out into open water before anybody could close the outer door. For the first time in what seemed like forever, luck was on his side. It was only minutes before the Stinger raced out of the access port and Lucas swung hard to port.

"OK, we're gonna play a little hide and seek."

Lucas had already decided to take a chance on the lack of sophisticated sensors around the colony. His pursuers would be expecting him to run as fast as he could, so he decided to do the unexpected instead. As he darted in around the pylons supporting the colony from the seabed, he tried to recall what little he'd already seen of the area. Underwater recon wasn't a major part of his brief until he had evaluated all of the internal systems. Thankfully his little excursion with Micah a few days earlier had given him some ideas; if he could just remember where they had been.

Small bleeps on his console showed him that three vessels had exited the access port and they were now speeding off in different directions. He had no idea how many more would follow, but he hoped that none of them were equipped with anything that could pick up his position.

He pulled the Stinger in as close to the underside of the colony as he could manage without scraping the hull. Micah had curled himself up against Lucas' chest and closed his eyes. His thumb was wedged firmly in his mouth and Lucas would have laughed if it hadn't shown how anxious the boy was.

The next twenty minutes seemed like the longest of his life as he waited to see if any further pursuers came out of the access port.

**A/N I know Season 3 showed Bridger in the back of the Stinger with Lucas but I'm working on the first season one which only seemed to have room for one person. I try to get details right so if you were wondering about it that's my logic.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thankyou to everyone for reviewing. It's always a buzz to see something in the inbox. I got the boring audit stuff finished so gave myself a reward and spent some time writing. I hope you enjoy.**

**Chapter Four**

As Lucas looked out at the underbelly of the colony from inside the Stinger he could see signs of aging. Commonplace technology that would have kept sealife from attaching itself to the frame obviously wasn't in use there as barnacles covered most of what he could see. He wasn't sure what he had expected when he first came, but a lot of things about Hope Colony seemed incongruous to him. He had wondered several times if it was just his age, but there were things he just couldn't reconcile.

The day the seaQuest had docked was a day he would never forget. Bridger had given him some idea of what to expect, but the fact that the colony was so closed off to the outside world meant that a lot of it was really just educated guesses.

"It will be a chance for you to explore an environment you've never been exposed to before."

The captain made it sound like an adventure, but Lucas couldn't stop a sarcastic response. "You mean one without running water and cooking food over campfires?"

"No, actually I'm pretty sure they eat their meat raw!"

"Ha ha!"

"Lucas if you really don't want to do this I can still pull the plug." Bridger hoped he wouldn't back out now as they were at the colony's doorstep, but Lucas didn't disappoint him.

"Just don't complain if I look like a caveman when you come back to pick me up."

With that mental image in mind, Bridger had clapped him on the shoulder before breaking out into a smile. The docking hatch had opened and they had stepped out into the unknown.

Micah shifted a little in his sleep and Lucas looked down to see that his thumb was still in his mouth. He remembered his first sight of the little redhead and smiled slightly.

"Welcome aboard, Captain, Lucas. I'm very glad you decided to take up our challenge." Samuel Aroro stepped forward as they emerged from the docking hatch and extended a hand of welcome. The captain reached out to shake his hand, but Lucas was already looking around and missed it. Captain Bridger nudged him slightly and Lucas quickly reached for the man's hand and shook it. He looked at the man he had only briefly spoken with over a commlink and began to size him up. A little under six feet, with the pale skin common to those who lived under the water. His hair was beginning to show tinges of grey at the temples but he exuded an air of confidence and openness.

"_He could pass for a submariner,"_ Lucas thought to himself.

"Please, come this way and we will get you settled in your quarters before anything else."

Lucas hefted his duffel bag further onto his shoulder and picked up his electronic gear before following the captain and Samuel down a narrow corridor. He thought it was odd that there weren't many people around, but he would later come to understand why.

Bridger was asking something about water reclamation, but Lucas wasn't really listening to their conversation. He was too busy looking around as they walked and he began to lag behind. The colony was like something out of a history book. He could see equipment that he had only ever seen in museums or textbooks and his curiosity was getting the better of him. He had a hundred questions of his own, but was too fascinated to even know where to start.

He stopped to look at an air pump and was surprised to catch movement out of the corner of his eye. He briefly thought that maybe somebody was following them, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

"Come on, Lucas!" Bridger called from the far end of the corridor. "We don't want to lose you already." The two men had paused for him to catch up and he hurried off to where they were waiting.

As they continued down another maze of corridors he glanced back to see that somebody really was following them. A small mop of reddish hair ducked back behind a bulkhead and Lucas pretended he hadn't seen it. They finally reached his quarters and Samuel held the door open for him.

"I'm sorry it isn't very big, but we don't have much use for guest quarters here."

Lucas just nodded as he entered the room he could only describe as a box, with a bunk in the corner.

"It's fine," he smiled. _"I will never complain about anything on seaQuest again!"_ he thought to himself.

* * *

Bridger paced across the floor of the wardroom, impatiently waiting for the call to connect. Finally a face appeared that looked no older than twelve or thirteen.

"I must be getting old!" he muttered to himself.

The child looked at him with curiosity before being unceremoniously shoved aside by someone else.

"Get off my vidlink!" Nick moved into the seat and waved absently at the screen. "Hey, yeah sorry 'bout that but he just likes … Captain! Uh sorry. I'm ahh … just trying to get some newbies settled here and this one thinks he can move into my room!"

He turned aside to speak to somebody off camera. "Get out of my space!" He threw something across the room that Bridger couldn't see but he heard it clatter against the door. "And stay out!"

The captain would have laughed under other circumstances, but right now he didn't time have to waste on teenage nonsense.

Finally Nick returned to the viewscreen. "So, Captain Bridger, what can I do for you?" The man on the other side of the link did not look happy and his mind was racing with possibilities if he was going to have to come up with some cover story for Lucas.

"Have you spoken with Lucas lately?"

_"Is that some kind of trick question? A trap?" _He hesitated before answering and it was as though Bridger had read his mind.

"Nick, I'm not asking if you know where he is if that's what you are wondering. I need to know if you have spoken with him in the last couple of days. It's important."

The tone of voice loaned credibility to the words and Nick realized his friend wasn't in trouble for going AWOL, but something definitely wasn't right. "He emailed me about going to Hope Colony, but that was last week. Why? What's wrong?"

Bridger rubbed a hand over his face and looked back at the screen. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. Just please, if Lucas contacts you, will you please let me know as soon as possible?"

"Is he all right?"

The fact that the captain didn't answer immediately told him all he needed to know. His friend was in trouble and for some reason the _seaQuest _didn't know what was going on.

"At this stage … I honestly don't know. Please, call me if you hear _anything_."

"Sure, and the same goes for you. I wanna know that he's OK."

Bridger just nodded before cutting the communication. He glanced at his watch and frowned. Still nearly six hours to go before they reached Hope Colony.

* * *

Lucas had the radio set to scan all frequencies and snippets of radio chatter drifted through to the Stinger. It was clear the guards had been told he was responsible for Samuel's murder and it wasn't unreasonable that they were chasing him with such passion.

Samuel had been in charge of Hope Colony for over nine years, although he had lived there for nearly twenty eight years. His parents were among the founders and their mindset and ethos was entrenched in everything he did. From his earliest days he had been taught that people needed to live from the fruit of their own labours and not rely on others to provide for them. By working together with others, they could each provide a skill set that completed their communal needs. The kibbutz culture of Israel had been inspiration for many of their ideas, despite the fact that they didn't exist anymore.

Lucas had kept a close eye on his scanners and radio. So far it seemed that the vessels that had gone out after him had fallen for his trick and had continued to search out past the colony. He decided he had waited long enough and it was time to clear the area. It was easy to drop the Stinger down to the seabed and he hoped to avoid detection by crawling along the bottom. Finding his way through the rocky ravines of the sea floor would be tricky enough, but actually plotting any kind of course would be enormously difficult.

Micah didn't move as the Stinger began its descent and Lucas guessed he was thoroughly exhausted. Emotional fatigue on top of physical stress was enough to knock anybody around, let alone a small, frightened boy.

"What am I gonna do with you?" Lucas whispered over his head. He frowned as he wondered what would become of the child.

From the first day on the colony Micah had been intently interested in the stranger who had arrived unexpectedly in his home. After dumping Lucas' gear in his quarters, Samuel had invited both Lucas and the captain to share a meal in his quarters. The _seaQuest _was due to leave fairly soon, but Bridger wanted to make sure Lucas was settled and at least acquainted with a few people before he left.

All the way there Lucas was certain they were being shadowed, but he gave no indication that he had noticed anything. It wasn't until they arrived and Samuel paused to open the door that Lucas realised he knew his son was there all along.

Samuel looked back down the corridor past them both. "Micah! You can come out now and greet our visitors!"

Bridger looked over at Lucas and tried not to smile.

"You saw him too?" he whispered to the captain.

"Well he's got a bit to learn about the art of stealth."

Samuel just looked at both of them apologetically. "I'm sorry, but we have been reading some of my old story books and he currently thinks he is a big game hunter!"

"My son, Robert, thought he was Captain Ahab. The dolphins around our pier were fair game as far as he was concerned."

Samuel looked back at Bridger and smiled. He had heard a lot about the captain of the _seaQuest _and had been hesitant to involve the UEO in their affairs. But here was a man who also had a son and knew what it was like to encourage their imaginative play. Maybe they weren't so different after all.

While they were talking, a small boy had approached the group, looking rather sheepish at having been caught out. His father scooped him up into his arms and ruffled his hair and the child smiled a little more confidently.

"This is my son, Micah. This, is Captain Bridger and Lucas." Before either could say anything to him he buried his face in his father's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but he isn't used to strangers. We don't get many visitors here."

Lucas was suddenly jolted out of his reverie by another radio contact. He couldn't be sure of one of the voices, but he knew the other one. It was Mark Pederson, the colony's security chief.

"Any sign of him?"

"No, Sir. He seems to have outrun us."

"I don't know what the top speed of that thing of his is, but he didn't get much of a start on you. And I have some more bad news to report. We've found Micah. I'm sorry to tell you all, but he's dead."

Lucas stared at the console, thinking maybe he had misheard the man's words. The angry replies that came back just confirmed it though.

"What the hell!" He unconsciously pulled Micah a little closer and the child fidgeted in his sleep before settling back again.

The earlier radio calls had said they didn't know if Lucas had Micah or not, but now they were clearly lying. As he wondered what they hoped to achieve by that it didn't take long for his answer to come back.

"Don't bother to try and apprehend him. Daniel has said you can blast him out of the water. The UEO will try to get him out of our hands, but justice _will_ be served! As _we_ decide; _not_ the almighty UEO!"

* * *

Pederson stepped back from the radio and looked over at Daniel. The man had just signed his own nephew's death warrant, but there wasn't a trace of emotion on his face.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Samuel was a fool! I tried to reason with him, but he just wouldn't listen. It's his fault Micah will die too, not mine!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Thankyou to everyone for your comments and feedback. I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do with Lucas in this chapter, but after plying the muse with chocolate and port she seems to have gotten back to work. Blame her for any pain she inflicts on anyone!**

**Chapter Five**

"There!"

"I don't see it."

Ben leaned in closer to the screen, but he still couldn't make out what Ortiz was so interested in. Miguel increased the resolution, but Ben still wasn't sure what he was supposed to be seeing.

"Right there. See that shimmer along there?" He pointed to what Ben could only describe as a hairline.

"That's your proof?" He sounded skeptical, but Miguel seemed adamant.

"This footage has been spliced. I'd stake my job on it."

"Well let's hope it doesn't come to that, but if you are sure, then Bridger needs to know." He reached into his pocket to pull out his PAL.

"Commander, I think you need to get Captain Bridger down here."

"What have you got, Lieutenant?"

"Proof that somebody is lying!"

Ben could almost see the scowl on Ford's face as he answered. "We'll be right there."

Miguel looked over at him and nodded. Now they just needed to work out who was doing the lying and why.

* * *

Lucas had lost track of the time while he focused on the job of piloting the Stinger through a maze of rock. Normally he would have skimmed over it and just needed to keep an eye on the depth reading, but now he was concentrating intensely as he steered through the twists and turns with no idea of what was coming up ahead.

Micah was still asleep, but Lucas could see it wasn't a peaceful one. His face was tight with tension and every now and again the thumb-sucking would intensify. Lucas could only guess at what he was dreaming about and he wondered if it would be kinder to wake him up and spare him the nightmares.

Each time he thought about it he decided against it, simply because it was taking all of his energy just to focus on the job at hand. He just didn't think he could spare anything to comfort the boy if he woke up from the dream and was distressed.

Lucas rechecked his heading and decided it was nearly time for them to come up for air.

"Another couple of miles and we're within range of Node 3. You'll be safe there."

He looked down at the child still sleeping in his lap and could barely contain a shudder. The last radio contact from the colony had left him stunned that somebody there was prepared to kill Micah to cover their crimes.

"_How could anybody want to hurt you?" _he wondered.

Up to that point he had been fairly sure if he could just get the child out of harm's way that would be enough, but apparently he had underestimated who he was up against. And the most frustrating part was that he still didn't even know exactly who that was.

Lucas fingered the radio handset for a moment but quickly pulled his hand away. There was no help coming on that.

After dropping him at the colony the _seaQuest _had headed off to the South China Sea. They weren't due back to pick him up for another two weeks and he figured they were probably days away at top speed. He knew he was well out of range to contact them from the Stinger, so hadn't even tried. He hadn't dared to call Nick and possibly give away his position, but all the way to the communications node he had been working desperately on a plan. Somehow he needed to hide Micah while trying to get to the bottom of what was going on. Neither of them was going to be safe until he had some concrete proof of who had killed Samuel and why.

And just to add to his problems, he knew he was running out of time. He tried to ignore the constant throbbing in his side as he concentrated on keeping the Stinger from careening into the jagged rockface alongside him. He was already pushing it along at the fastest pace he dared, but he also knew he was losing focus.

"We're nearly there, buddy," he whispered over Micah's head. "Nearly there."

* * *

Pederson stood just inside the office door and debated what to say. So far he had managed to keep a lid on most of the colony and stop the panic from spreading. Most of the colonists were trusting people who considered themselves to be part of a large extended family and the news of Samuel's death had been devastating.

Daniel had elected to keep the details under wraps, but it was only a matter of time before it got out. The result of that was more than he wanted to deal with at present. He waved his security chief into the room. "Shut the door."

"Daniel, the _seaQuest_ is less than an hour away. They are still trying to contact us, but we can't ignore them much longer." When he didn't get a response he tried again. "What are you planning to do?"

"The best form of defense is attack."

"What! We can't possibly hope to take a stand against them!"

"Of course not, Mark. I'm not talking about a physical attack. They are going to arrive here with that superior UEO attitude of theirs and start telling us what to do in our own home! Well I say we don't give them the opportunity. We throw it right back at them. Samuel rolled out the welcome mat and they tried to take advantage of us. They sent a spy into our midst for who-knows-what reason! He sabotaged our systems and then when he was caught out he killed Samuel. He took Micah with him. That footage clearly shows him taking my poor nephew out of his quarters."

"We both know that isn't true."

"But nobody else does and unless _you_ open your mouth, who's gonna argue with us?"

Pederson looked over at the other man and recognised the implied threat behind the question.

"But you've told the men that Micah is dead. What are you going to do if he turns up somewhere with that Wolenczak kid?"

"Well if your men can do their job that won't be a problem will it?" Daniel stood up and slowly walked towards the door. "We have come too far to back out now. You have to keep your focus and do _your_ job."

It was clear Pederson was being ushered out and he hesitated briefly. "I didn't sign on to start killing kids."

"No, you signed on for a whole lot of money. Don't start growing a conscience on me now. You don't get to walk away when it gets dirty!" Daniel opened the door and waited impatiently for the other man to leave.

Pederson walked out into the corridor, still shaking his head but saying nothing.

Daniel leaned on the back of the door and closed his eyes. "Samuel, why couldn't you just listen to me?" He clenched his fists in anger and pounded them on the door. "Damn you! Why couldn't you just listen to me?"

* * *

Bridger looked at the screen and listened intently to what Miguel was saying.

"So it has definitely been tampered with? What else have you been able to determine?"

"Well it's not technology I've worked with before; I mean digital went out years ago. I can't believe they still use this stuff."

"Ortiz!"

"Sorry, Sir. They said the footage proved that Lucas entered the room prior to Samuel's death, but I can prove that the time-clock has been spliced over the original footage. It wasn't there in the first place."

"Would that proof stand up in a court?" Ford had been watching over Ortiz's shoulder as he explained what he had been doing.

"I don't know about that, Commander. I found it because I'm trained to read details, but I'm not an expert and any good defense attorney would jump on that."

"Lucas would pick it to pieces in five minutes," Ben muttered to himself, "and reassemble the _real _footage."

"It doesn't matter." Bridger cut across the speculation. "It's enough to take into the colony and shove back in their faces. I'm willing to bet none of them are expert enough to dispute what you are saying. Whoever did this might just be spooked enough to make a mistake when they realise we are onto them."

He clamped a hand on Miguel's shoulder. "Good job, Chief. I need this ready to take with me when we dock. You've got about twenty minutes."

"It'll be ready, Sir."

"Both of you meet me in the launch bay when you are done." Bridger turned and headed towards the door. Ford was close behind him and as they entered the corridor he asked about the captain's plans.

"So, how many are we taking in?"

"_I_ will be taking a small group initially." He held up a hand to block Ford's objection. "We don't want to escalate this if we can avoid it Commander. Just Krieg and Ortiz, along with Crocker. I want his input in dealing with their security chief."

"But you will be armed at least?"

"Yes, but side-arms only. We don't know where Lucas is and I don't want to endanger him by taking an attack force in there."

Ford nodded silently. His gut instinct told him side-arms weren't going to be enough but the captain's logic was right. They were dealing with a previously peaceful colony that had made it clear they didn't want the UEO coming in. Taking in a fully-armed detail was not going to help their cause.

* * *

Lucas typed in the coded entry command he had been given by Nick the last time he'd been to visit at Node 3. After the events with Mycroft they had reset all codes but there was no reason to think it had been changed again. He chewed nervously on his lip while he waited for a response.

Micah was still asleep and Lucas decided it was finally time to wake him up. He gently shook at his arm and slowly he started to rouse. As he opened his eyes fully and saw the water in front of him he looked startled, but Lucas quickly moved to reassure him.

"It's OK, we are in the Stinger. Remember?"

Micah twisted around to look up into his face and Lucas tried to stifle a groan of pain. He was only partly successful and Micah looked even more alarmed.

"It's all right, it just hurts a bit," he lied through gritted teeth. He pointed out through the viewscreen in an attempt to distract the child. "Look, we are nearly there. See that structure over there? We are going in there and you are going to meet my friend. You're gonna like him."

Micah didn't look convinced so Lucas tried one last effort. "He's got hair just like yours."

Micah turned to look at the water again and Lucas tensed against the movement, but managed to keep quiet this time.

After clearing the security code for entry it was an easy run into the docking bay. Lucas had debated calling Nick and filling him in, but he knew his friend would try to talk him out of his plan. Staying put and waiting for the _seaQuest_ to get there was too long to wait. Vital evidence would be gone by the time they arrived.

As he pulled alongside the platform and waited for the Stinger to rise to the surface, Lucas was still trying to work out what to tell Micah. The boy hadn't spoken a word since they left the colony and he couldn't expect him to pass on a coherent message to a complete stranger. In the end it was the colour of his hair that gave him an idea.

The canopy of the Stinger opened quickly and Lucas looked up to see several workers on the deck. While Node 3 was mainly staffed by young programmers, there were other people around who kept the daily necessities ticking over. A man in overalls was organising a load of supply crates and sent the other two off with further food crates.

Lucas called him over. "Hey, do you know Wolfman, um, I mean Nick? He's one of the programmers."

"Sure, why?"

"Well I brought his cousin out for a visit and he was supposed to meet us here. Any chance you could give him a call for me?"

"And who are you?"

"Just tell him Franky is here."

As the man turned to walk away Lucas could hear him muttering something about stupid names and bossy kids. He hesitated long enough for the man to move around the corner and out of sight, but he didn't have time to waste. He needed Micah to climb out of the Stinger before anybody else came back. It took all of his self control to stop from crying out as Micah stood up on his lap, but somehow he managed to get the boy out and onto the decking. He reached out a hand to try to explain what he was about to do, but it was clear it wasn't going to be understood.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go back and get something. My friend Nick is coming. He'll take care of you and he'll know what to do. I'm really sorry, Micah, to run out on you, but I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise!"

Lucas closed the canopy as quickly as he could, but it didn't stop him seeing the look of desperation on Micah's face. He vaguely heard shouting before the watertight seal set itself and he dropped the Stinger back into the water before anybody could stop him.

"Don't shut the doors on me,_ please_ don't shut the doors on me!" he whispered to himself as he headed back out into open water. Hoping that nobody had the time to react and block his exit, he focused on the outer launch doors. Nothing was moving and he gave the Stinger full power in order to escape.

Back in the docking bay, Nick entered the room expecting to find Lucas. Instead, a small boy stood on the platform while one of the maintenance crew was pacing up and down. As he arrived, the man began shouting at him.

"This isn't Summer Camp you know! You can't just drop kids off here and leave them!"

Nick held his hands up in protest. "Whoa! What are you on about? Where's Lucas?"

"If Lucas is that blonde haired blow-in that just took off thataway in that minisub, then I guess you just missed him! But he did leave your cousin here for you."

"What?"

"The kid over there. Your cou-sin!"

Nick looked at the child who was still standing on the platform. He was clearly terrified and hadn't moved an inch. "Bridger didn't say anything about a kid."

He crouched down in front of the boy and tried to think what to say. "Hi, I'm Nick. What's your name?"

Micah just stared at him as tears were welling in his eyes.

"It's OK. I'm Lucas' friend. Why did he bring you here?"

"You mean he ain't your cousin?" The maintenance guy was standing to one side watching the whole exchange.

Without taking his eyes off Micah, Nick just shook his head. "No, he isn't."

"Then what's he doin' here?"

"That's what I'm _trying_ to find out," Nick tried to keep the irritation out of his voice but he couldn't manage it.

He reached out slowly to take Micah's hand. "Are you hungry? We've got Cheetos in my room."

Micah still didn't react and Nick was getting worried. The child seemed to be in shock and he didn't know anything about how to help him. The fact that Lucas had done a runner had him even more worried, but he decided the first thing he needed to do was call Bridger. At least he'd know what to do.

He stood up and tried to get Micah to walk with him. As Micah pulled away, Nick could see dried blood along the back of his shirt. Without thinking about how the boy would react, Nick crouched back down and grabbed at the back of his shirt. Micah stumbled backwards and Nick had to stop himself from pulling him back. He held both hands up in the air.

"I'm sorry, but you're bleeding! Are you hurt?"

Micah shook his head slightly, but didn't come any closer.

"Can I check?" Nick edged closer and eased up the back of Micah's shirt. There was no sign of injury and it was clear the blood wasn't his. "Oh no!" he whispered as the realisation hit him.

"I need to help Lucas. Can you come with me so we can help him?" Micah didn't respond but he didn't resist either. Nick tried again to take his hand and he was relieved when the boy followed his prompt. He didn't bother wasting time explaining to the maintenance man what he had in mind as he hurried out of the bay, other than to say he would take care of it.

"Bloody tech brats! Think they know everything!" he muttered to himself as he went back to the crates.

* * *

The walk to his quarters seemed to take forever. Micah clung onto his hand as he rushed past people, but he still never said a word. Nick couldn't help but wonder what had happened to him, but for now his priority was Lucas. He lifted Micah onto the bed and slid into the desk seat.

If Lucas was in the Stinger it would be an easy matter to contact him. Nick punched in memorised numbers and waited for his friend to answer. He tried again, but nothing came back. After the third fruitless attempt he began to wonder if he had the numbers wrong. For a programmer, numbers were his stock in trade and he had no problem recalling large chunks of code from memory. A radio frequency was child's play.

He stood up to grab a file from above his bed and was startled by a knock on the door. He hoped he hadn't been dobbed in yet and debated what to do. If he didn't answer the door and it was Security they'd just come in anyway. He glanced over at Micah, but before he could do anything further there was another knock at the door. This time a voice called out as well.

"I know you're in there. Are you planning on hiding Lucas from me?"

He smiled with relief at Julianna's voice. "Come in."

"OK what kind of boy's nons…" She stopped in her tracks as she looked over at the small boy cowering on Nick's bed. "Who's this? I thought Lucas was here."

Nick rubbed a hand over his face. "I dunno, still working on that one. And Lucas _was _here but he took off. Still working on that one too."

He slid back into the seat with the folder in his hand. He checked off the frequency and nodded to himself. "Right numbers. OK, Franky, why aren't you answering me?"

Julianna moved up beside him while still watching Micah. "Nick, what is going on?"

"I wish I knew! Hold on a minute, I've got another call to make." He quickly dialed in another sequence that Julianna instantly recognised. The _seaQuest._

It was only moments before the UEO logo filled the screen only to be quickly replaced with an officer's face.

Nick couldn't wait for formalities and blurted out, "I need to speak to Captain Bridger right now!"

O'Neill recognized Lucas' friends on the screen and knew the captain had already suspected Lucas may have contacted Node 3. "Have you heard from Lucas?" he asked hopefully.

"Kind of, but I need to speak with the captain, now!"

As Tim was preparing to transfer the call the captain arrived back on the bridge, accompanied by Commander Ford. He rushed forward at the sight of Nick on the screen.

"I'm right here Nick. Any news?"

"I don't know what's going on, Captain. He was here about half an hour ago, but he left. He didn't tell me he was coming and I just got a call from the launch bay to say he was there. By the time I got down there he'd already gone. He did leave me a package though." Nick swung the camera around to show Micah sitting hunched up on his bed before turning it back to himself.

"Micah!"

"That's his name? I haven't been able to get a word out of him so far. Captain, what's going on?"

"It's a long story, but that child was in danger and Lucas got him out. I just don't understand why he left again. Did he say anything at all?"

"I never got to speak with him, but, Captain, there's another problem. The boy, Micah, he's got blood all over the back of his shirt."

"He's injured?" Bridger looked back towards the child on the bed with renewed alarm.

"Not a scratch. I can only assume it's Lucas who's bleeding."

The captain nodded slowly. "I hoped I was wrong … … but I think he's been shot."

"What!" Julianna cut in on the conversation.

Nick continued on. "Then why would he leave and not let us help him? I've been trying to raise him on the radio, but he won't respond."

"I wish I knew, but at least now we know where to start looking for him. We are only minutes out from Hope Colony and I'll send shuttles out to find him."

Bridger looked back at the two young people on the screen. "Can you take care of Micah until we can get someone there to pick him up?"

"I guess so, but he isn't very talkative."

"I don't have time to go into the details, but you need to make sure nobody takes him anywhere unless they are from _seaQuest_. Nobody! Understood?"

Nick nodded his agreement as Bridger continued on. "Keep trying the radio for me, but don't say anything on air about Micah. I've got a feeling Lucas is trying to hide him."

"Who from?"

"I've got to go, but I'll be in contact as soon as I can. And thankyou."

As the captain signed off, Nick turned back to Julianna. "What the hell is going on? Who is this kid?"

Micah was still sitting on the bed with his knees drawn tightly up around his chin. His thumb was back in his mouth and he was staring straight at the floor.

"I don't know, but for now I think we need to get him some food and a bath." She moved over to sit beside him on the bed. Micah didn't seem to notice until Julianna slowly reached out to wrap an arm around his shoulders. He stiffened at first, but slowly he began to relax into her side. She tentatively touched a patch of dried blood on the back of his shirt and couldn't contain the awful thoughts that began running through her mind.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the wait on this chapter, but I did warn you they may take a while in coming. To CF Vici, you do actually get a chapter before I go away. I haven't even packed yet, but you do get your chapter, so I hope you appreciate my dedication! **

**Thankyou to everyone for your reviews and comments. You will get some of the backstory in this chapter so hopefully I've answered some of your questions and maybe raised a few more.**

**Chapter Six**

**A week earlier …**

After Captain Bridger and the _seaQuest_ had left, Samuel had decided to let Lucas get a good night's sleep before starting on the work they had called him in for. Early the next morning he had to rouse the groggy teenager who seemed rather unhappy at being woken before dawn. He thought that was strange as everybody on the colony rose early, including his young son. Micah was fairly bouncing with excitement as he followed his father into the visitor's tiny room and waited for him to drag himself out of the bunk.

After allowing him the privacy to get dressed and join them for a simple, but hearty breakfast, Samuel took Lucas for a tour around their community. Most of the people they passed were busy with various tasks and Samuel did his best to explain as they went. In a community such as theirs, everybody had a role to play and every job was considered important.

"Kinda like on the _seaQuest_," Lucas mused to himself as they walked. "But I can't see Commander Ford doing that!" he commented as they passed a cleaner. He almost laughed out loud at the image that went through his mind of the usually-serious XO wielding a mop through the endless corridors of the submarine.

Eventually they came to a door that was rather grandly marked "Control Room" and Samuel held the door open for Lucas and Micah to enter ahead of him. If Lucas was disappointed by what he saw, he managed to mask it very well. Two rows of consoles lined opposite walls and various monitors blinked out information at him.

Samuel observed without comment as Lucas touched each component of the computer setup. He ran his fingers gingerly over each piece as though it was somehow going to break. Samuel barely restrained himself from saying that their equipment could cope with being used and nothing adverse was going to happen.

Lucas looked up at him with an odd mix of reverence and disbelief on his face. "I, … um … I don't mean to be rude but … does this stuff _really_ all still work?"

Samuel barely held back a smile as he nodded.

"But it's like … like … antique!"

"Well, I suppose it was made to last."

"But you don't understand. Computer components are obsolete almost as soon as they hit the shelves. Industry development is growing exponentially so anything that's a couple of years old has nothing to interface with anymore and is replaced out."

"Lucas, that only applies if you _want_ to interface with anything else. We have no need to do that outside our own system and our system works just fine for us."

Lucas shook his head as though the man had just suggested that Dark Ages' medical practices were still acceptable and he briefly wondered what Doctor Westphalen would make of that. Maybe she'd like some leeches in the medbay!

"But what about when something breaks?"

"Well you just said it yourself. Most things get replaced because they are obsolete, not because they are broken. Most parts are actually pretty resilient and anything that needs fixing, well, that's what we have Jake for."

A young man with mousey brown hair had entered the room only moments before and had been watching as Lucas continued his way around the room. At the mention of his name, he tentatively smiled at the stranger.

"So this is your handiwork then?" Lucas looked over at Jake, trying to guess his age and wondering if any of the computer components were any younger than he was.

"Not really. I just maintain it, but most of it was set up by my father. He taught me all that he knew about computers."

Lucas just nodded as he continued on around the room. The jury-rigged equipment looked like one good sneeze could be the end of it, but Jake seemed quite proud of it all.

Samuel continued to explain various things, but for the most part Lucas was able to trail through things himself and pull out whatever he was looking for. The conversation drifted on as Lucas explored the system he had to work with. Some things Samuel could fill him in on and other parts Jake was eager to point out.

To his father's amazement, Micah had managed to sit relatively quietly and still for over forty minutes; fascinated by whatever it was that Lucas was doing. Something about the teenager had caught the boy's attention and he was content to just sit and watch. Eventually though, hunger got the better of him and he began to squirm.

"Time for a break, I think." Samuel lifted his son off the bench and turned to see if Lucas was coming. "I said, it's time for a break, don't you think? Fooood." He dangled the last word out as though he was holding out a bone for a dog, but Lucas wasn't biting.

"Huh? Oh sorry. I was just looking at these readouts here." He pointed to the screen in front of him and trailed his finger across behind the string of numbers. "What's this all about? It looks like seismic readings."

"It is." Jake jumped in before Samuel could answer. "We monitor the seabed from here but it's just routine. Nothing much ever happens."

Lucas looked slightly uneasy at the use of the word "much", but Jake continued on. "We get a few hiccups now and again, but nothing this old girl can't handle."

Samuel smiled at the idea of his home being referred to in such a manner, but it was true. "We may not have the latest technology here Lucas, but this colony was built to last. You don't have to worry. We are built onto solid rock and this just keeps us apprised of any activity that would impact on the local fish stocks."

Micah fidgeted beside his father; boredom having finally won out over curiosity. He tried to get his attention by tugging on his coat sleeve. Samuel leaned down and whispered something in his ear. Micah grinned up at his father before turning and tearing out the door.

"What did you just say to him?" Lucas wondered.

"I just told him that there might be some fresh doughnuts ready by now if he wanted to check at the bakery."

Lucas had noticed on their way through the colony earlier that there was something that looked like a town square, but hardly anybody was around. Given the confined space he thought he may have made a mistake, but as they left the Control Room and headed back in that direction he realised his initial assessment was right. More people had also headed into the area and Samuel explained that the colonists worked on a kind of shift rotation. Just like on the _seaQuest_, at the shift change most people headed for food. The various small shops that had been shuttered up earlier were now open for business.

Samuel pointed to a small table tucked away to the side and Lucas laughed as he spotted Micah, already seated and tucking into a very large powdered doughnut. His father headed over to the bakery and paid for his son's purchase and Lucas briefly wondered what it would be like to live in a place where credit was taken for granted by a six year old because everybody knew you.

It was a strange kind of economy where everybody seemed to be employed by the colony in some capacity and yet they still operated with money. He sighed as he realised he didn't have time to try to figure out the inner workings of the place. He already had enough on his plate to get his brief done before the _seaQuest_ came back to pick him up in a couple of weeks.

As the day progressed, Samuel found that Micah had become a mini shadow of the teenager and it was quite comical to see Micah trying to stalk Lucas through the hallways while Lucas pretended to be entirely unaware of his presence. As a father, Samuel truly appreciated that a complete stranger would take the time to accommodate a small boy's fantasies, while trying to work on a complex job. Most people would have just dismissed his son as a nuisance, but for some reason, Lucas seemed to enjoy his company. He had no idea how much Lucas related to being the youngest one around, but he liked what he saw.

* * *

**Three days later …**

Samuel sat at his desk and absently twisted a pen between his fingers. He could have typed the information into the computer system, but there was something he still enjoyed about writing it all down; the tactile sensation of his hand gliding across the page. He would have preferred it to be real paper that still had that faint smell of cellulose, but that was a long-gone luxury and he would just have to make do with the syntho stuff instead.

He smiled slightly as he read back over his notes. He knew their computer system was aging, but Lucas had called it antiquated. To his mind, the teenager's first sight of their admittedly basic setup had been hilarious. He frowned again as he quickly realised it wasn't a laughing matter at all. Daniel had made sure of that.

Despite his need to keep an accurate record for the colony's files he wasn't sure what he should write next. He grabbed the pen firmly in his palm and vaguely felt his nails bite into his palm.

"How did this get so complicated?" he muttered to thin air. Finally he released his death grip on the pen and began to write again; slowly at first and then more quickly, as if the details would dissipate if he didn't get them down quickly enough. Gradually he began to ease up and he leaned back in his chair to consider what he had written.

The words stared back at him from the paper. What had been only a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach was now apparently a fact. By writing it down he had made it a fact. Or at least it was now open for others to interpret and decide for themselves. Did he really want his doubts to be known amongst the colonists yet? Was he ready to open up a buried family feud to outside scrutiny?

He glanced back down at his report and hesitated briefly before dropping the pen onto the desk and picking up the paper to screw it up.

"Not yet!" he scowled at the wad of paper in his hand. As if it was suddenly burning his hand he looked around for somewhere to throw it. The waste reclamation unit was across the room and he leaned back to lob the offending paper over to it. A fraction less force behind the lob would have made it a three-pointer but the paper skidded across the top of the metallic unit and fell to the floor behind it.

Samuel sat at his desk and shook his head. "You're getting old, Sammy boy!"

Before he could get up to do anything his comm unit crackled to life.

"Papa? Are you there?"

Samuel smiled in spite of himself and he felt his dark mood beginning to lift. He glanced at his watch and instantly realised why Micah was calling him. He was late for dinner.

"I'm here, Son, and yes, I'm on my way."

"Right now? Cos Lucas is already here and Mrs Berriman said we can't start supper until you get here."

Samuel could hear the insistence in his son's voice. Whatever was being served was obviously to his liking. Mrs Berriman did her best to make sure his son ate a nutritious diet and there were times when Micah would dig his heels in about what she had made. At least tonight wasn't going to be one of those times when he would sit at the table, staring down his six year old in a battle of wills about whether or not he would eat the stone cold food in front of him.

Those were the times he missed his wife the most. The times when she would have known what to do to deal with a child's issues that seemed far too vague and unfathomable. He knew his housekeeper did her best, but it just wasn't the same.

"Papa? Did you hear me?"

Samuel started at the sound of his son's voice. He rubbed at his eyes and quickly moved to answer. "I'm on my way,_ right_ now! I promise. So what are we having for supper tonight?"

"We've got pineapple upside-down cake!"

The eagerness in his son's voice made Samuel burst out laughing. Never mind the main course! Just skip to dessert. And a luxury one at that. Pineapples were a topside item and as such, were hard to come by. Lucas must have done something to impress Mrs Berriman for her to splash out and use something so extravagant.

"I'm out the door already. See you in a few minutes."

"You can't be out the door and still talking on the comm!"

"OK, Mr Smartypants! Start counting. Three hundred and twenty seven."

He didn't wait for an answer, but secured the comm unit back in its cradle and bolted for the door. He knew Micah was already counting and it was something of a game between the two of them for him to try to beat his estimated time. He was also counting in his head as he ran and could always tell when Micah cheated on the count. Many times he had stood outside the door to his quarters silently counting off the numbers so his son could declare victory when he stumbled through the door.

"You're late!" Micah launched himself at his father as he breathlessly burst through their doorway.

"I am not!" Samuel retorted. "Three hundred and six."

"Was not! It was six fousand and ninety two."

Samuel scooped up his son and marched over to the dining table. Lucas was already seated and Samuel pretended to up-end his son before depositing the squealing boy next to Lucas.

"Maybe you can ask Lucas to teach you to count while he's here."

* * *

The shuttle powered down as the docking clamp connected with the colony hatch. Aside from Ben at the controls, the rest of them were already on their feet. Captain Bridger looked across at the men before him and waited for the hatch to pressurise. As Ben stepped up beside Ortiz, they glanced at each other. All of them were wearing side arms but none of them knew what to expect.

"Commander, we are ready to enter the colony."

"Understood, Sir," Ford's voiced came back over the PAL.

"Remember, our priority is to retrieve Lucas without escalating this any further."

Each of the men nodded before turning towards the hatch. Crocker turned the seal and pushed the hatch to swing outwards. He began to move out, only to find a rifle muzzle pointing directly in his face.

Bridger couldn't see who it was but he certainly heard the command for them to come out with their hands in the air. He hoped that Ford had heard what was taking place over the PAL before he pushed it deep into his back pocket.


	7. Chapter 7

**As always, thankyou to everyone for reviewing. I love hearing what you think.**

**Well this has been a hard chapter to get to behave itself. I hate writer's block, but I think it's beginning to flow again. Yes, I know the obvious thing to do would be for Lucas to stay at the Node and get medical attention but where's the fun in that? Kinda like those horror movies where the girl goes **_**upstairs**_** and you want to reach into the screen and tell her to run!**

**Chapter Seven**

For a vessel that usually looked so sleek and agile in the water, the Stinger was now meandering badly. To an outside observer it would have looked very much like watching a drunk driver on the road. If there had been anybody around to observe it, they may have looked through the canopy window and wondered why there was a mop of hair hanging over the controls.

* * *

"Easy, just take it easy." He spoke quietly enough, but he knew that Gator could hear him.

Bridger slowly climbed through the docking hatch behind his security chief and found himself face to face with another rifle muzzle. A small band of men stood in a semi-circle with rifles raised towards him and his men. He held his palms out to show he wasn't holding a weapon before turning towards the only man who didn't have a rifle. Obviously the one giving the orders.

"This isn't exactly in line with how we left here a few days ago."

"Well a lot has happened since you were here last. My brother and nephew are both _dead!_"

The captain briefly wondered why they believed Micah was dead when he obviously wasn't, but decided that could wait.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but that's no reason to threaten us. We haven't done anything except answer a request for our technical help."

"Some help!" Daniel spat the words at him. "Your idea of help was to bring a murderer into our colony!"

Bridger glanced across at Ben and could see his lieutenant was doing all he could to keep his mouth shut.

"Lucas is just sixteen years old and isn't capable of murder. Now, where are you holding him?"

Daniel glared at the strangers in front of him. If his men had done their job he would have been able to hand over the body of their crewmember and make them go away, but now he was stuck trying to think on his feet.

"He's in custody and will stay there until we have finished dealing with him."

Pederson looked across at his leader and tried to keep his face neutral. This was a dangerous game to play with the UEO flagship parked on their doorstep. It was only a matter of time before they discovered Lucas wasn't in custody and he had a fair idea what would happen then. The captain of the _seaQuest_ did not strike him as someone to be trifled with. Or lied to.

Knowing that Lucas was most definitely _not _in their custody and Micah was very much alive made Bridger wonder what else they were lying about. He decided to try a placatory stance with the colony's apparent new leader and see what he could find out.

"Do you think you could lower those rifles? I mean, we aren't going anywhere and there's only four of us."

Daniel seemed to weigh the request before nodding almost imperceptibly to his men. The rifles drooped slightly lower, but Bridger noticed they were still well within striking range.

"All right. If we can't speak to Lucas, can we at least see the evidence you have against him?"

"We already sent the UEO the footage. I'm sure you've seen it already." The sarcasm was just below the surface of the words, but Bridger refused to rise to it.

"Actually that's one of the things I wanted to discuss with you. Do you suppose we could do it somewhere other than here?"

Daniel glared at the older man; secure in the safety of his own environment, surrounded by his men. "Why should I allow any more UEO personnel into our colony? We have managed just fine for many years without your help."

"I'm sorry, but wasn't it your brother who called us here in the first place? If you didn't want the UEO here, then why did you ask us to come?"

The men standing guard seemed keen to hear the answer to this question. A lot of things had happened in such a short time that most of them were confused about exactly what _had_ happened. To find themselves holding such a prominent UEO figure at gunpoint seemed absurd. But Daniel had insisted they were not to allow anybody from outside to get in. None of them were really sure why, but it seemed the safety of their colony depended on it and each one of them had families to protect.

Before Daniel could answer, he was startled by a muffled beeping sound. "What's that?" he demanded.

"That would be my XO wondering why I haven't checked in with him yet." The captain stared at the man before him and saw his resolve begin to slip a little. "I would make a suggestion that you let me answer it because the next group to arrive here won't be as friendly as us." The PAL continued to beep insistently and finally Daniel gave in.

"Answer him!" he growled.

Bridger pulled the PAL out and could almost hear Ford's question before he spoke. "Captain, is everything all right there?"

"Just fine, Commander. "

"Admiral Noyce asked me to let you know that the team is on its way."

Daniel didn't react and Bridger wondered if the man realised what was coming. The people of Hope Colony had chosen to live in isolation and up to this point the UEO had been happy to leave them alone. Until a murder was committed and a crewmember of the _seaQuest_ stood accused of the crime. A crewmember who was also a minor. Daniel may think he could hold the doors closed, but he was about to get a rude awakening.

"And, Captain, there's been no further news on the other matter."

"Understood, Jonathan. I will speak with you again shortly."

The captain pressed his PAL back into his pocket and tried to keep a calm face. Since speaking with Nick and finding Lucas was out there somewhere in the Stinger, O'Neill had been broadcasting a message to call the teenager back to safety. So far he hadn't responded.

"I need to speak with you in private and discuss the evidence you have. I can assure you that I am looking for justice for your brother and nephew and that we have some evidence of our own that you really need to see. Somebody has been falsifying evidence." He paused to allow that to sink in. "But we've caught them out."

Ben glanced across at Miguel. The sensor chief hadn't taken his eyes off Daniel and his hand wasn't very far from his holster. Crocker was watching the captain for his next cue and Ben noted that, he too, seemed ready to react in an instant. He may not have looked too fast on his feet, but Ben knew that looks could be deceiving.

It took all of Pederson's self control not to turn and look at Daniel. He wondered just what kind of evidence they had or if they were just bluffing.

"_How the hell did I get mixed up in this dumb idea?"_ he thought to himself.

Finally Daniel turned and pointed towards a doorway. "We can talk in there." He waved his men aside and began to walk towards the open door. Bridger nodded to his team and all four of them followed. Pederson brought up the rear and he carefully closed the door behind them.

He looked across the room towards Daniel. Somehow the other man still appeared to be calm and in control.

"All right, Captain. Just what is it that you think you have?"

"Well, for starters, your security footage that "proves" Lucas killed Samuel … it's a fake."

Pederson was glad the _seaQuest _crew all had their backs toward him as he was certain his face had just drained of colour.

* * *

Most people respond one of two ways to pain. They either curl up or stretch out. Inside the confined space of the Stinger, Lucas had tried to stretch out his legs as far as possible. He had already tried curling up and he found that being hunched over just exacerbated the pain. In desperation to make it ease up he tried stretching out, but there wasn't much space available. As another spasm of pain rolled down his side he closed his eyes as if to block it out. It was only supposed to be until the pain subsided, but when the muscle cramps eased up he didn't open his eyes. There was something peaceful and far less painful about floating away for a moment or two.

By the time he opened them again the view outside had changed. Where he had been skimming across the top of scrappy kelp beds he was now facing murkier water with no way to see the ocean floor below. He had no idea if he had passed the kelp because something was stirring up the water. Without knowing it, he had strayed into a deeper ocean current and was being pushed along by it.

As he struggled to clear the fog in his head Lucas leaned down towards the console and squinted at the readings. As he began to refocus he realised the Stinger was coasting along on its own path.

"That's not right!"

He began to type in co-ordinates and rechecked the data. Somehow he had gotten well off course without even knowing it. He scrubbed a hand over his face in the vague hope it would help clear his head, but all it did was reveal dried blood on his palm. For a brief moment he stared at his hand as though he had never seen it before.

"Where di…?" He groaned as his brain began to fill in the blanks and remind him of what had happened. He didn't bother to pull back the shirt to check his wound as he already knew what he would find. He could feel the congealed blood down the side of his leg and he guessed he must have had quite a blood flow for it to have reached that far.

As he glanced down at his leg, he noticed he was missing a shoe.

"Where did that go?" he muttered to himself. It took a few moments for him to remember taking it off and lodging it against the door handle in a vain attempt to hold back his pursuer. As further images crowded into his head he clutched at the console and tried to steady himself. Micah was frightened and depending on him to get him to safety.

As he glanced around the small space he began to feel a strange sense of panic as he couldn't remember where Micah was. Slowly the thought filtered through that he had left Micah some place safe. With someone safe.

He swallowed hard and rubbed the tips of his fingers vigorously across his temples. The pressure did nothing to help relieve the dizziness, but he did eventually remember leaving Micah all alone on the platform. The look of fear and uncertainty on the child's face was all his fault. But there was no other option.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into his hands. "I'm sorry."

Without thinking Lucas reached out for the radio. He needed to check that Micah really was safe. As he began to punch in the frequency he suddenly stopped.

"What the hell are you thinking?"

He pulled back his hand as though something had bitten him. For a moment his hand continued to hover over the console before he dropped it back into his lap. Snippets of the earlier radio calls ran through his head and he flinched at the reminder. Somebody was totally prepared to kill Micah and he almost gave away the child's hiding place over the radio.

As he stared at the radio he wondered if he hadn't done that already. Had he already done something stupid that he couldn't recall now? For a few moments he continued to stare at the radio before finally registering that it was turned off. It went against all protocol to have a vessel's radio turned off but for some reason he had done just that. Slowly the memory began to emerge from the black and he remembered thinking that he didn't want any calls from Wolfman trying to talk him into going back to the Node.

"_That's where Micah is!"_

The sense of relief was almost physical as he remembered dropping Micah off at the communications node where Nick could take care of him. Now, if he could just remember why he left again.

He closed his eyes and rubbed at his temples again, but this time it wasn't doing anything to help. The view outside was getting blurrier but he couldn't tell if it was the water changing again or something else.

"Records … I need access to the records … they can't hide it anymore ..." Somewhere in the back of his mind Lucas was vaguely aware of how hot it was. He knew something was very wrong with those records, but he just didn't have the energy to remember what it was. If he could just take a short rest then he could get back to the questions. As his head slumped down onto the console he couldn't recall why he even cared.


	8. Chapter 8

**OK I know posting on this story is erratic, but that's my life at the moment. I got on a roll with the last chapter and decided to post this as soon as it was finished. Does that make up for making you wait? Just please don't expect another chapter tomorrow cos it ain't coming!**

**Chapter Eight**

Juliana sat on the edge of the bed and watched the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of the blanket. The small body tucked underneath it had slipped into a deep sleep some hours ago and hadn't stirred since. Most people move and turn throughout their sleep cycle, but Micah hadn't so much as moved an inch.

"_The sleep of the dead," _she thought.

Or just the chronically exhausted.

Nick came back through the door to her quarters and she turned to raise a finger to her lips. It probably wasn't necessary to worry about waking Micah, but it was more of a reflex response.

"How is he?" Nick whispered.

"Been asleep for a couple of hours now. I couldn't get him to eat though."

"Here." Nick reached out to hand over a small pile of damp clothes. "I managed to get them through the laundry, but didn't want to leave them for the dryer. Too hard to explain a kid's clothes in this place."

Julianna just nodded and began to drape the clothes across the back of seats.

"Someone already asked about the blood and I said you had a nosebleed and I just grabbed the nearest thing to stop it. Just in case anyone asks," he trailed off.

Julianna sat down and reached out to smooth Micah's hair. "OK." She already knew the answer since he would have told her but she couldn't keep from asking anyway. "Any news?"

He just shook his head and each of them could see the same thoughts reflected on the other's face.

"Where could he have gone? And why wouldn't he have stayed to let us get him some help?"

Nick shook his head in frustration. "I dunno, but I'll be sure to ask him when I see him next."

"_If you see him." _Julianna desperately wanted to undo that thought, but it had run through her head before she could cut it off. The truth was, she had helped Micah get cleaned up and had seen for herself just how much blood was on his shirt. So how much more was on Lucas? And just how much blood could a person afford to lose before it was too much?

Nick found himself pacing the length of the room without realising he was doing it. Juliana watched him walk for a few moments before standing up to stop him.

"What do we do now?"

"Well, Bridger said Lucas was trying to hide Micah, so I guess we keep him hidden. I've pulled a few favours to get our shifts covered so one of us can stay here with him at all times."

"Have you told Security?"

"No, but I think the less people who know about this, the better." He turned towards her computer and began to log in. "I've set up a security scan to alert us to all incoming traffic so we'll need to monitor that from here."

Julianna nodded and watched as the information began to flow across the screen. As much as she relied on computers for so much of her life, it didn't seem to be enough this time.

* * *

Lucas lifted his head and stared at the blackness in front of him. Something had violently jolted him awake, but he couldn't register what it was. Slowly his senses began to awaken and he realised he was facing a sheer wall of rock. As he looked closer he could see that it wasn't as solid as he first thought and it had fissures running through it. Without anyone at the controls the vessel was at the mercy of the currents and this one had managed to slam it into a rock face.

Lucas tried to maneuver the Stinger out of the rock ledge it had become wedged on, but the controls wouldn't respond. The engine was built for speed, not power and the small craft would not dislodge itself. As he tried again, Lucas found himself getting increasingly agitated. It had been important for him to get back to Hope Colony as quickly as possible but now he couldn't remember why. There was just a deep sense of dread that he was running out of time.

The engine whined with the strain of the overload, but the Stinger refused to move. It shook slightly as the force of the effort rippled through its skin. However it had become stuck, it wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon.

Lucas slammed his hand against the console and dropped the engine power back to a throttle. No use blowing the engine to add to his problems.

* * *

It was well past his shift change, but Tim still sat at his station with his headphones on. He had refused to allow anybody to take over from him as long as there was a chance Lucas would hear his radio hails.

Commander Ford stood at the far end of the bridge and watched as his lieutenant strained for any whisper of a radio signal. Miguel had set the sensors as far as possible before leaving to head over to the colony, but it apparently wasn't enough.

The various shuttle crews that had been sent out to search the area between Hope Colony and Node 3 hadn't found any sign of the Stinger yet and every one of them reported radio silence as well.

"We need to expand the search area."

"Sir?" Tim pulled the headphones down to check what had been said.

Ford realised he had spoken his thought aloud and turned to pull up further navigation maps. "I said, we need to expand the search area."

"Get me through to Commander Hitchcock." His fingers were tracing lines over the sea floor trying to guess where one tiny submersible might be.

"Sir, Commander Hitchcock is on the line."

Ford straightened up. "Katie."

"I'm here."

"You've covered all the places where Lucas _should_ be and he isn't there. Time to start looking in the places where he _could _be. I'm going to send you some new calculations and I want you to spread your team out further."

"Understood. Do you have any particular ideas?"

"You mean guesses?"

"Well those too, but your gut instincts are usually pretty good."

Ford rubbed a hand over his mouth before continuing. "Well there isn't much in the way of civilisation out here so we were only guessing in the first place that he was heading back to the colony."

"What are you thinking?"

"Could he have been heading for the _seaQuest?_ I mean, he knew that when we left Hope Colony we were heading to the South China Sea."

Katie stared at the radio before answering. "You know he couldn't have made it that far!"

"I know that and so would he, but if that's where he thought we were, don't you think it makes sense he would have tried to get to us? I mean we were out of radio range for the Stinger, but Lucas is resourceful enough to have tried."

Katie shook her head as Ford's logic began to sink in. Lucas was obviously injured and being pursued, but something just didn't add up. "He took Micah to the Node to protect him, but why wouldn't he have stayed there and gotten some help for himself? It just doesn't make sense, Jonathan."

"Nothing about this makes any sense." Ford grabbed hold of the railing and squeezed it with all his strength. She was right about that part, but he also knew he could be right about Lucas trying to get back to the _seaQuest_. If he thought they were out of radio range there was no reason for him to try calling them. Unfortunately, that didn't explain why he wasn't answering their hails now.

"OK, so we really only have two options here. Either he was heading back to the colony or he was looking for the _seaQuest._" He glanced up towards Lieutenant Blacker who was sitting monitoring the WSKRs.

"Lieutenant we need a course plotted of how Lucas may have been trying to get from Node 3 to the South China Sea."

"Aye, Sir." Blacker swung out of his seat and headed towards the charts. The soft backlight glowed a faint green and he zoomed out to give himself a greater area to check. Direction was easy. Factoring in the ocean currents was a whole other matter. Seasonal currents were fairly steady so using today's readings were accurate enough for what he needed. At least he hoped it was.

"C'mon, Lucas. Give us some idea where you are." Ford shook his head slightly and glanced up to see O'Neill watching him. He had his headset slung around his neck and he quickly moved to pull it back up.

Blacker began to mark off a possible course and Ford relayed the co-ordinates through to the waiting shuttle crews.

"Katie, I don't like doing this, but I think we need to split the search. Keep half the teams on the present search pattern and send the other half to follow up this course. We've got the WSKRs stretched to the limit, but until we can get the _seaQuest _out of here, that's the best we can do."

"Understood. Hitchcock out."

Ford leaned down to study the map co-ordinates again. Until he knew what was happening on the colony the _seaQuest _was staying put. His captain had just walked into a potential hornet's nest, but having the submarine parked on their doorstep should hopefully keep the hornets from stinging.

As a man of action, the most frustrating thing that Ford could be asked to do was wait.

Wait for Bridger.

Wait for a call from Lucas.

Wait for a murderer to be identified.

Just wait.

* * *

Lucas pushed the record button on the console and began to speak again. "Um … … yeah, Micah's with Wolfman. Had to take him somewhere safe… … … found his father's body … … couldn't stop him."

Lucas squeezed his eyes shut as though he could block out the horrible image that flooded his mind.

"Samuel … he was … uh … … I was out with Micah in his room. Checkin' on his … um … heard this noise … …"

Before he could stop himself Lucas felt his body beginning to heave. If there had been anything left in his stomach it would have quickly come up. Instead, he cringed against the pain as his stomach threatened another revolt.

"Oh, God, that hurts!" he whimpered. Finally the pain began to ease a little and he leaned back in the seat.

"Somebody … … they shot Samuel … in the head and Micah … he … I couldn't stop him. I had to … he … he couldn't stay there … not with a dead body … … … get out."

Lucas rubbed a hand across his face only to find it was glistening with sweat. He had given up on trying to dislodge the Stinger since it was clear it wasn't going to budge. Instead he had decided to start a log for whoever eventually found him. The problem was, the information he needed to put in it was rolling out of his memory in bits and pieces. He knew he was forgetting something important.

"Had to get out … … somebody sent guards after us. Still don't know why but … … Nick … …"

Lucas held his breath as another thought dropped into his memory.

"Samuel … he ah … he … … asked to check seismic readings … … something was off … … weird … … um kinda … … kinda just … … all clustered … … Daniel got … … stick to my job … … don't like that guy … …"

The effort of speaking, on top of straining to remember, was taking its toll. The words being recorded were becoming fainter and huskier.

"Inventory! … … checked supply records … … weird stuff to bring in … … asked Samuel … … didn't know but … … checked records … … all erased … … gotta find them … gotta … … before … … before he … … all in danger … … "

The last words trailed off as Lucas slumped back against the seat. The log continued to record by itself but there was nothing more to be heard than labored breathing.


	9. Chapter 9

**All right! This story is finally starting to flow again so this chapter was pretty quick to come together. I hate writer's block so thankfully the muse has got off her butt and started to work again. I suspect it had something to do with going back to listening to Pink Floyd while writing. Angst and drama!**

**Thankyou again to everyone for your kind reviews.**

**Chapter Nine**

**Seven months earlier…**

Samuel sat and stared at his brother across the table. "I don't understand where this is coming from."

Daniel glared back at him. "No, I don't suppose you would. That would require you taking notice!" He rose from his seat and angrily pushed the chair back towards the desk.

As he turned for the door, Samuel leaped out of his seat and rushed around the desk to stop him. "Hold on, please. We haven't finished here. Come on, come back and sit down. Please."

Daniel made as though he was still going for the door but finally relented and sat back down at the desk. Samuel pulled his chair back around to the other side and sat down beside his brother.

"What's _really _going on?" He paused before asking the next question, knowing that it could erupt in his face. "Is this because of Sarah?"

Daniel looked away and refused to answer but his brother could see his knuckles had whitened on the arm of the chair.

"Daniel? I know it still hurts. But she made her choice and you couldn't force her to stay."

"I know that, but I also know that she isn't the only one who wanted some changes here."

Samuel leaned back in his seat and sighed. "I know that. The Council has been looking at the suggestions and some are valid but some of them just go against all we stand for."

"What _you _stand for!"

The venom in the words was surprising and again Samuel found himself staring at his younger brother. "What our _family_ stands for!"

"Well I guess that's where we differ because I don't know what I stand for anymore. Maybe I should have just left and gone after Sarah."

Samuel looked at the lines of grief still etched into his brother's forehead and wondered how he hadn't seen it until now. A broken heart can be covered up for a time, but eventually it begins to bleed more openly. "Maybe you should have … if that's what you wanted."

"Huh! Like I could do that!" Again the bitterness was obvious. "I have the family legacy to uphold. How would it look if one of the Aroro's didn't want to live in Paradise anymore?"

Samuel reached out a hand but his brother pulled away. "This isn't a prison you know. If that's really how you feel then I will help you find a new path."

"I have no idea where Sarah is so what's the point? No, I will stay here and do my job." This time as he pushed his chair out from the desk Samuel didn't rise to stop him. Instead he just watched as his brother stalked out of his office.

Daniel headed for his own quarters and without stopping to think about it any further he reached out for the vidphone. Without resources of his own he needed to find a way to fund his future. As he dialed in the number, he pushed down the thought that he was betraying his own brother and the only home he had ever known.

"Samuel will never change! What's the point of trying to reason with a zealot?"

The vidphone crackled and the line disconnected. "Damn dinosaur! Can't even contact the outside world without problems!" He dialed again and eventually a young woman answered.

"Hello, welcome to Zalco Mineral Exploration. This is Mandy speaking. How can I help you?"

"Put me through to Jaco."

"Certainly, Sir, may I ask who's calling?"

"No."

The secretary frowned slightly before snapping back on her happy face. "One moment, Sir."

It took several minutes before Jaco appeared on the screen and he looked wary when he saw who his caller was. "So, have you made a decision yet?"

Daniel just nodded. "I want out of here and you're gonna pay my way."

Jaco's eyes lit up at the response. "Excellent. I'll be in contact soon about logistics."

"This has to stay under the radar. They'll stop you if they know about it."

"I understand that. Believe me, it's worth our while to do this without any problems. It's worth _all _our whiles! You won't regret this," he smirked at the screen.

"I do already," Daniel muttered after closing the link.

* * *

Nick sat by the bed, just watching as Micah slowly roused from his sleep. As the child became more aware of his surroundings he realised he wasn't in familiar territory. Looking up to see a relative stranger watching was enough to make him climb back under the covers. Nick debated whether or not to try comforting him or if that would only frighten him further.

Julianna had gone to find breakfast for her new roommate and Nick desperately wished she would hurry up and come back. He had no real experience with small children and this one was not behaving normally anyway. As he began to reach out a hand, he could hear muffled sobs from under the blanket. Finally he decided he couldn't sit back and do nothing, so he gently peeled back the blanket.

Micah shrank back from him at first, but slowly began to register the colour of the stranger's hair. Lucas had said they matched. He didn't exactly smile at the memory, but he did stop crying.

Nick looked down at him and smiled encouragingly. The child looked like he was drowning in Julianna's t-shirt as it twisted around his knees, but there wasn't anything else to dress him in the night before. That reminded him that Micah's clothes were hanging over the back of the chair and he reached out to grab them.

"Wanna get dressed?" he asked hopefully as he held out the clothes.

Micah just nodded but made no attempt to move. Instead he just looked around the room.

"Oh, OK, I get it. You wanna little privacy. No problem. I'll be just outside the door if you need me, like for buttons … or um … anything."

Julianna eventually arrived back with a fully loaded tray and wondered why Nick was standing outside her door.

"Well he seemed a little shy," he explained.

"Uh huh. Well I've got food for all of us. I don't know what he likes so I kind of brought a bit of everything."

Nick surveyed the tray, pushing aside fruit, muesli and yoghurt before grabbing a hash-brown.

"Hey! He gets first choice."

"Not on this one he doesn't," he grinned at her.

It seemed to be taking a long time for Micah to get dressed so Julianna handed the tray to Nick and gently knocked on the door. "Do you need a hand in there?"

When she didn't get an answer she slowly pushed open the door and poked her head through. The pile of clothes was lying on the floor and on top of the bed a small lump protruded from under the blanket. The sound of sobbing could be heard again and she quickly rushed over to pull back the blanket.

Micah was curled into a ball with his face in his hands. Julianna reached out and pulled him up into her arms. She thought he might resist, but instead he flung his arms around her neck and buried his face in her shoulder. Not knowing what else to do for him she began to gently rock him as though he were a baby. Finally the sobs eased up and he raised his face to look at her.

"Hey, I thought you might like some breakfast."

Nick had laid the tray on the table and she moved over to allow Micah to look it over. He stared at the food but made no attempt to pick out anything.

"C'mon, you have to eat _something_. You must be hungry by now."

Micah pressed his face back into her shoulder.

"All right then, how about we get you dressed?"

He didn't argue with that idea so she sat him down on the bed and reached down for the clothes on the floor.

Before she could start the job, her comm began to beep. "Can you get that?"

Nick pressed the vidphone connection on the wall and the UEO symbol appeared briefly before Commander Ford's face replaced it.

"Have you found him?" Nick blurted out before he stopped to think.

"I'm afraid not, but I just wanted to let you know we are sending a shuttle to pick up Micah. And both of you if you want to come."

"Absolutely," Julianna answered before Nick even had a chance to react.

"It should be there in the next half hour. Lieutenant Jansen will be collecting you. Don't go with anybody else and call us here to identify him before you leave. Understood?"

Nick nodded in agreement. "You really think anybody else is going to try and get here?"

Ford looked troubled at the idea. "Yes, they might. This kid possibly witnessed a murder and he's a prime target. We still don't know who we are after yet so anybody is suspect until proven otherwise. Remember, Lieutenant Jansen and nobody else! I'll talk to you soon."

"Fine." Nick punched the button to disconnect and turned back to Julianna. She had managed to get Micah into his clothes and was doing up his buttons. The child still looked pale and Nick decided to bring the food over to the bed. He sat down beside Micah and held out a hash-brown.

"Here, try one of these. They're really good."

Micah just stared at the food, but refused to take it.

"OK, maybe later then," Nick sighed as he dropped the food back onto the tray.

* * *

"I have the evidence right here that your footage has been falsified, but if you don't want to see it, then I will hand it over to the UEO investigators when they get here." Bridger began to head for the door and his men quickly followed suit.

As Ben reached out to open the door, Daniel leaped to his feet.

"Wait! Where do you think you are going?"

"Excuse me?" The captain narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying we aren't free to go?"

Pederson looked at his boss and inwardly cringed. _"Don't get stupid!"_

"Of course that isn't what I'm saying, but …"

Bridger cut him off before he could finish. "Good, because unlawfully holding _any_ UEO citizen against their will is called kidnapping."

While it sounded as though he was talking about the immediate crewmembers it was crystal clear he included Lucas in that.

"As your young techie kidnapped my nephew?"

Bridger was half way through the door when he stopped abruptly. He slowly turned back to face Daniel. "Just as there is no evidence that Lucas murdered your brother, there is no evidence that he kidnapped your nephew. Now, I am going back to our shuttle to get the evidence we have to show you. If you are interested in finding the _truth_, I suggest you let me do that without hindrance."

Daniel looked like he was going to burst, but he managed to keep his temper in check.

Seeing there was no further objection, Bridger and his crew began to head back towards the shuttle. As Miguel started to fall into line behind Crocker, one of the men standing guard stepped forward slightly and discreetly shoved something into his hand. A brief look of surprise crossed his face before he fell into step again.

Walking along behind him, Ben was itching to ask what had just happened, but managed to keep quiet until they had re-entered the shuttle.

* * *

Katie looked over at Ensign Harper and asked for the next set of co-ordinates. As they fed through to her console she could barely contain a sigh. Search and rescues were always tense but this one was different. She couldn't shake the feeling they were looking in the wrong place and Lucas didn't have an unlimited timeframe for them to find him.

Jonathan was right that Lucas may have been trying to find the _seaQuest, _but she was still wracking her brain about why he would have left Node 3 to start with. Micah was safe and he could have just waited there and contacted the _seaQuest._

"So why the hell didn't you?"

"Ma'am?" Harper pulled his headset down and turned towards her.

"Sorry. Just trying to figure out Lucas' logic in all this. I mean, he doesn't usually do anything without a plan, so what was he thinking when he left the Node?"

"Sorry, Commander, no idea."

Katie just shook her head. "Me either!" Even as her eyes scanned the monitors and the view ahead she couldn't shake the thought that something made him leave. So what was it?

* * *

Darwin had been following his own search pattern for quite some time. While he was visible on the WSKRs for a long time, he had moved well beyond their range now. No human would have been able to detect a pattern at all, but the cetacean was following that indefinable thing called instincts.

Without the benefit of human, long range scanners, he could still detect things that they couldn't. Scientists were still discovering things about how dolphins tracked their prey and how they recognised pod members from long distances. While Darwin couldn't have answered any of their questions, he was still putting those abilities to good use.

So it was no surprise to him then when he found a small submersible wedged into a rock face. What did surprise him was that Lucas refused to acknowledge him through the window.

* * *

Ben pulled the docking hatch closed behind him and grabbed Miguel's shoulder. "What have you got there?"

Bridger turned back as Miguel pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. "It says, 'Daniel is lying and we don't know why'."

"Where did you get that?" he demanded to know.

"One of the goons shoved it into my hand just now."

"So it seems there's a chink in the armour. We need to speak with him away from Aroro and that other one, Pederson."

"I'll see what I can do." Miguel nodded.

"Actually, I'm going to need you to help explain this footage to them. Krieg, see if you can get him aside somehow."

"Aye, Sir." Ben nodded enthusiastically. They were finally looking to be doing something helpful instead of standing around and wasting time.

Bridger's PAL began to beep and he quickly pulled it from his back pocket.

"Commander?"

"Captain, Darwin has just come back. He says he's seen Lucas!" The excitement in his voice was obvious to all in the shuttle.

"Is he all right? Where is he?"

"He just said Lucas is stuck. Captain, it will take longer to get the search crews back here and follow Darwin back out. A shuttle may not be enough to help him and it will be much quicker if … "

"If you take the _seaQuest_," Bridger cut him off. "We'll be fine here, Jonathan. Go, bring him home."

"Aye, Sir. We'll be back as soon as possible."

"Well what are you waiting for? Get going!" Bridger flipped the PAL closed and turned to see three grinning faces.

On the bridge of the _seaQuest _Ford issued an order he never thought he would hear himself saying. "Follow that dolphin."

**A/N I couldn't resist - I just had this mental picture of Ford chasing Darwin. Yes, I know I'm weird.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Now that it's off and running again I can't get this story out of my head! Who needs sleep anyway? Only slightly obsessive I think, but my imaginary friend says I'm fine, so don't worry. **

**She also says to thank you very much for reviewing.**

**Chapter Ten**

Julianna sat in the back of the shuttle with Micah curled up on her lap. She still hadn't managed to coax him to eat anything and it had been a relief when the _seaQuest _shuttle arrived. At least they could hand Micah over to Doctor Westphalen and she would know what to do for him.

Nick leaned over and squeezed her hand. There still hadn't been any word on Lucas. She didn't notice when the shuttle began to change course, but when Lieutenant Jansen started climbing out of his seat and coming towards them she suddenly sat up to take notice.

"_Don't give me bad news, just please, don't!"_

Jansen was smiling as he stopped in front of them. "We are changing course to rendezvous with the _seaQuest. _She's gone to pick up Lucas."

"Oh thank, God!" Julianna let out the breath she had been unconsciously holding and Nick reached out to hug her. Micah got squashed in the middle and he just clung on tighter to her neck.

* * *

Lucas was unaware of Darwin floating past him in the water; even when the dolphin began to tap on the glass again with his beak. The water overhead darkened as the _seaQuest _moved into position above the Stinger. He didn't even stir as the grappler snaked out and wrapped itself around the tail of the Stinger. He finally awoke when the Stinger rolled onto its side and his head hit the console.

Hovering off to one side, _Loner_ was flashing images back to the bridge, but so far all they revealed was that somebody was inside the Stinger. The fact that Darwin was swimming rings around it was enough to confirm to everybody on the bridge that it was, in fact, Lucas inside.

Ford felt like he was holding his breath as he watched the Stinger being dragged unceremoniously by the tail through the water. It just seemed so insulting, but time was more important than manners.

"You have the bridge, Lieutenant O'Neill."

"Aye, Sir."

"And when I get back, you are off duty."

"Yes, Sir." Tim glanced at his watch and realised he couldn't remember when he had actually started this shift. He watched enviously as Ford headed for the launch bay because he wanted to be sprinting after him.

* * *

Miguel decided that this was why Bridger always won if he ever played poker with them. Being able to hold all your cards to your chest and give nothing away was a skill that took years to develop.

Daniel had sat silently while Miguel explained how they knew the footage had been corrupted. Pederson seemed to hang back out of view, but Daniel just looked unconvinced.

"How do I know that this hasn't been done at your end? That you aren't trying to cover your own tracks?" He seemed rather smug as he asked the question, but Miguel almost laughed as Bridger quickly deflated him.

"This is what was sent to us. If you think the UEO has tampered with it then show us the original footage."

Daniel shifted uncomfortably, but stayed defiant. "I don't have to prove anything to you. And I have no intention of turning evidence over to you."

Crocker shifted slightly behind them and Miguel turned to look at him. His face looked like thunder and Miguel could already guess why. He had dealt with too many liars in his time and they only ever delayed justice. He just hoped that this little timewaster was giving Ben time to track down somebody who would talk to him.

Before anybody could say anything further, they were interrupted by an urgent knocking on the door. Daniel looked across at his security chief and frowned. Pederson quickly moved to intercept whoever it was that was stupid enough to interrupt their meeting. He opened the door and stepped out into the corridor so the _seaQuest _crew couldn't hear what he was about to say. Only moments later he re-entered the room and awkwardly tried to make eye contact with his boss.

"I'm sorry but there's an urgent maintenance issue you need to deal with."

It didn't escape anybody's notice that Daniel hesitated for a minute before replying, "Can't it wait?"

"Uh no, Sir. It's urgent."

Daniel reluctantly excused himself and headed out into the corridor before roughly closing the door behind him.

"What is it, Mark?" he hissed.

Pederson looked uncomfortable to be the one delivering the news. "The _seaQuest_ has gone."

"Gone! Gone where exactly?"

"We don't know, just a north-east heading. They left half an hour ago."

"And I'm just being told this now!" Daniel glared at both men before dismissing the messenger. He turned back towards his security chief and looked like he was going to explode.

"They must have found something. If they were going west I'd say they had found the test site, but they must have found the Wolenzcak kid. It won't be long before the truth is out."

The two men looked at each other, trying to weigh up their next move.

"C'mon, Daniel. It's over and you know it is. The only question is, how quickly we can get out of here before the _seaQuest _comes back."

The ugly look that crawled over Daniel Aroro's face made Pederson flinch.

"I'm not going down without a fight. We are too close to lose it all now."

"Daniel! You can't take on all of them. I say we cut our losses and run."

Without answering, Daniel headed back through the door into his office and closed the door in Pederson's face. He stopped to lean on the door and briefly looked like he was going to be sick.

Bridger looked up and wondered what kind of maintenance issue could have brought about the abrupt change in Daniel's demeanor.

"Captain Bridger, I have one last thing I'd like to show you. It will only take a few minutes if you would like to come with me."

The group of officers rose together, but Daniel waved them back. "Actually, I … I'm sorry, Captain but I'd really like to have a word with you alone. Something has just come to light and I'm embarrassed to admit that … well, somebody here may … the truth is, I think you may be right about the footage."

Bridger watched as the man seemed to crumple before his eyes. All of the bravado seemed to have been propped up by the man's belief he knew who killed his brother. Now he just looked deflated.

"Captain, please. I'm new in this leadership role and I'd appreciate your insight."

Bridger just nodded and looked back towards his men. "Wait here. We won't be long."

Daniel smiled slightly in appreciation as he led the captain out through another doorway and closed it behind them.

Several minutes later Mark Pederson came back through the other door and was surprised to find the two _seaQuest_ officers standing in the room in a huddle. They stopped talking the instant he walked in and he glanced nervously around the room.

"Where's Daniel? And your captain?"

Miguel thumbed towards the far door. "He went for a walk with Captain Bridger to talk about something."

Pederson blanched at the words and Crocker was across the room in seconds. His instincts for trouble were usually spot on and being able to read people had saved his skin on more than one occasion.

"What?" he demanded to know.

When the man refused to answer him he reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt. "What?"

Pederson looked wildly at the two faces in front of him. It seemed as though he was weighing up options before Crocker tightened his grip.

"We have to find them, _now_!"

* * *

Ford arrived in the launch bay in time to see Kristin issuing orders. A gurney stood to one side and several medbay staff were waiting expectantly. The grappler had roughly hauled the Stinger inside and dumped it in the shallow water but it was leaning heavily to one side. No doubt the rough handling had done some hull damage and it was taking on water.

He waded into the water as other crewmembers swung into action, trying to right it and force open the canopy. It was evident that Lucas couldn't open it from inside and Ford hoped that they weren't too late. Finally the hatch was released and pulled back out of the way. The smell of stale blood mixed with sweat drifted up and he nearly gagged.

The commander got his first look at the teenager and he almost staggered back. His shirt and a makeshift bandage around his waist was soaked with blood and it was only the sound of his ragged breathing and the burning glow of his face that confirmed he was even still alive.

Somebody reached in from the other side as Jonathan leaned over from his side. Together they managed to manhandle their unconscious patient out of the tiny space before Ford wrapped an arm under Lucas' legs so he could carry him over to the gurney. Kristin quickly moved in to check his vitals and whisked him away while the other men were still dragging themselves out of the water.

An ensign moved over to the Stinger and Ford quickly reached out to him. "Don't touch anything! That's all potentially evidence."

"Ah, Sir, there appears to be a log entry in here."

As Ford moved back over to see for himself, he too, noticed the tiny light on the console. "All right, get that off there and send it through to the bridge. But don't touch anything else."

He didn't wait for an answer before heading off to the medbay.

* * *

Ben leaned against the shuttle door and seemed intently interested in cleaning his fingernails. Bridger had taken Ortiz and Crocker back to follow up on the footage and left Ben "guarding" the shuttle. Daniel's men seemed less inclined to hang around since he had taken the others away and they had wandered off into the corridor. Ben managed to keep his head down, while every so often scanning the area for any sign of Miguel's contact.

Finally he saw movement from behind a storage crate and nodded slightly to the man wedged in behind it. Checking to see that nobody was watching him, he sauntered off in the direction the man was pointing. If anybody questioned him, he figured he could claim he was looking for the bathroom.

As he rounded the last corner he felt a hand clamp over his mouth. "Follow me and don't say anything 'til I speak."

Ben nodded and followed as he'd been instructed. The first man had appeared from behind him and quickly caught up with them. They finally walked into a small side room and one of them shut the door behind him. Feeling a little foolish and wondering if he had just walked into a trap, Ben scanned the room for another exit. There was nothing but the one behind him and two men in the room with him. He was wondering if he could take both of them down when the first one spoke up.

"Something is very wrong here. We need your help."

Ben looked over at the other one who was nodding vigorously. "We don't have much time before they find you're not at the shuttle, so we need to be quick."

"I'm Thomas and this is my cousin, Harold. We were on duty in the launch bay the night Lucas took Micah.

Harold nodded and looked slightly sheepish as he continued on. "Smart kid! He made us think the bay was flooding and we shut the watertight doors. By the time we'd figured it out, he was gone."

Thomas shook his head. "At first they told us Lucas had killed Samuel and kidnapped Micah and there was a shoot-to-kill order. Then they said after he escaped that Micah was dead too. Mark issued an order to blow Lucas out of the water. Said he didn't want the UEO interfering in the service of justice."

Ben sucked in his breath at this news. They all knew Micah was with Lucas, so did Mark Pederson know that too?

"All the search teams came back empty handed. The kid just disappeared. And now Daniel's been telling your captain that he has Lucas here in custody, but he isn't here at all."

Ben decided he wasn't yet ready to tell them that Lucas had been picked up by the _seaQuest_.

"The thing is, something is very wrong and we think Daniel may have something to do with it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, my nephew, Jake, works with the computer system. He told me that Lucas was digging up records for something and when he asked Samuel about them he didn't know anything about them. The next day Daniel arrived and blasted Lucas for sticking his nose into something he shouldn't have. Jake said Daniel was particularly angry that the UEO was spying on our business."

"Spying? You asked us to come!"

Harold leaned in closer. "The thing is, there isn't anything about our colony that the UEO would want. We run a mostly self-sufficient place and keep out of other people's way. We like it that way."

"Well, most of us do."

Ben looked at Thomas as he made the last comment. "What do you mean by that?"

Thomas shifted uncomfortably before answering. "Some of our younger ones are talking about being more open to the outside world."

"And I guess that's causing friction," Ben noted.

"Some, but the Council is working on it. We have always prided ourselves on working for the benefit of _all_ of us. Compromise is the only way that ever works."

"OK, I need to get back before I'm missed and report this information. Thanks for your insight and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. In the meantime, just lay low and stay off the radar."

Both men nodded solemnly before escorting Ben out the door and back down the corridor. As they arrived back near the shuttle, Thomas went ahead to distract the others while Ben slipped back into his position of slouching near the door.

After what he thought was a reasonable amount of time, Ben stepped back into the shuttle and discretely shut the hatch. He flipped the radio and impatiently waited for the _seaQuest _to respond.

O'Neill's voice came back at him in seconds.

"I have some new information for the Commander. It doesn't add up to a whole lot yet, but this is what I've got so far." He rattled off the details he had just been informed of while Tim noted it all down at the other end.

"OK, I'll pass it on as soon as he's back to the bridge."

"How's Lucas?"

Tim was surprised he hadn't asked that first but then he realised that Ben was probably afraid of the answer he might get. "I don't know yet. They pulled him out of the Stinger and he's in medbay. Sorry, but I don't have any more details yet."

Ben nodded to himself and frowned. Good news would have made it through the boat already.

"But you can let the captain know that Micah is safely aboard. Their shuttle docked a few minutes ago."

"I'll let him know. Thanks." Ben flicked the radio off and stared at the floor. His fists were clenched before he knew it. _"The second kid they tried to kill! Somebody is gonna pay for this!"_

* * *

Ford stood just inside the medbay doors and watched as the team there moved in some kind of unspoken dance. They each knew their roles so well that they somehow managed to move around and do the things they needed to without once running into each other. He was vaguely aware that he was dripping a puddle of water onto the floor, but right now he didn't care.

Kristin seemed intent on what she was doing and only glanced up to issue directives. Lucas had already been hooked up to an IV and desperately needed blood was being pumped back into him. Monitors beeped out a heart rate that still seemed far too erratic.

"Entry wound here." Kristin gently eased Lucas onto his side to examine his back. "But there's no exit wound." All right, we need to get him into the OR. This bullet has already been in there far too long."

Ford watched as the team wheeled the gurney out of his sight. The last thing he could see over the nurse's retreating head was the IV bag swinging against its pole. As he stood there staring after them, his PAL began to beep.

"Ford here."

"Sir, it's Lieutenant O'Neill. I think you need to hear the news I've just had from Lieutenant Krieg and also the log from the Stinger is ready."

"I'm on my way just as soon as I get changed. Are the search teams all back yet?"

"All but three and they are due in the next fifteen minutes.

* * *

"_Oh, God, that hurts!" _

Ford visibly flinched as he listened to the agony in Lucas' voice. Directly across from him Katie was trying to keep a calm face, but failing miserably. It seemed hours before Lucas spoke again and each one of them couldn't help but imagine what had been going on inside the Stinger.

"_Somebody … … they shot Samuel ... in the head and Micah … he … I couldn't stop him in time. I had to … he … he couldn't stay there … not with a dead body … … … get out."_

Tim closed his eyes as he realised that a small child had been forced to witness such a horrific thing. No wonder Lucas was trying to get him out.

"_Had to get out … … somebody sent guards after us. Still don't know why but … … Nick … …"_

"_Samuel … he ah … he … … asked to check seismic readings … … something was off … … weird … … um kinda … … kinda just … … all clustered … … Daniel got … … stick to my job … … don't like that guy" _

"Seismic readings?" Ford leaned over towards Blacker. "Get me the records for this area for the last twelve months."

"Yes, Sir."

The words were fading, but the pain in Lucas' voice was still evident.

"_Inventory! … … checked supply records … … weird stuff to bring in … … asked Samuel … … didn't know but … … checked records … … all erased … … gotta find them … gotta … … before … … before he … … all in danger … … "_

Nothing further could be heard on the recording except for the sound of strained breathing. Ford stepped over to turn it off before asking for more details.

"Records … … he talked about inventory. And those two told Ben about records as well. Something was being brought into that colony that shouldn't have been and Lucas found it. Probably accidentally by the sound of it. Something that was serious enough to get Samuel killed."

"What do you suppose it was?" Katie asked.

"No idea, but that last part … … Lucas said they were all in danger."

"What would a peaceful colony want with something that would endanger them all?"

"Maybe they didn't all know about it. Ben said that his informants said Daniel was behaving strangely."

"Samuel's _brother_? Do you really think he could have killed his own brother?" Tim looked incredulous at the idea.

Ford nodded slowly. "Stats say most victims are murdered by somebody they know. Often it's a spouse or family member."

"Crime of passion kind of thing?" Katie had often joked about strangling Ben, but now it wasn't so funny to her after all.

"Maybe. But if Daniel is the one, then we need to get back there, _now! _Our people only have four side arms between them."

Katie raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing.

"I did try to get the captain to take more, but he said he didn't want to storm in and endanger Lucas."

"Who, it turns out, wasn't even there!"

"Yeah, well hindsight is twenty/twenty isn't it?"

"Ah, Commander?" Blacker leaned over from the rim of his console. "You might wanna see this. Those seismic reports you asked for."

Ford climbed up onto the platform and checked over the readings. He frowned as he looked, but asked Blacker to confirm what he was looking at.

"Yes, Sir. Not much more than the odd hiccup until six months ago and then clusters of major tremors just started for no apparent reason."

"And they all have their epicentre in this area here?" He circled a spot on the map while Blacker nodded. "That's too much of a coincidence to ignore."

He climbed back down to the floor and considered his options for a moment. "Tim, I need to speak to the captain first, but I think we need to go and check out those co-ordinates. Something is going on there and I have a feeling it's got to be connected to those inventory records."

O'Neill frowned as he tried the captain's PAL again. "I'm not getting through, Sir."

"Well keep trying. It's probably just interference from the colony's poor shielding." He looked over at Hitchcock. "I'm going to check in on Lucas, but let me know as soon as you have the captain. You have the bridge."


	11. Chapter 11

**Thankyou for your kind reviews. It's always a buzz to open the inbox and see your comments. Well we are currently sweltering under a heatwave and since I can't stay in the pool _all _day the only way to stop from melting completely is to stay inside. The poor air-con is struggling since it hasn't cooled off, even at night and it's too hot to sleep. The one upside is I get time to sit and write. Even if I am sticking to the chair! Or sliding off it. **

**Chapter Eleven**

Kristin sat at her desk and began to write up her clinical notes. She was only part way into it when she looked up to see Commander Ford entering the medbay. He looked tired, but then she wondered how long he had been on duty. As he headed for her office she stood up to talk to him. He tried to smile as he approached, but she had been a physician for long enough to know that particular smile masked fear. She sighed as she knew she couldn't do much to really allay that fear.

"Jonathan, I was just writing up my notes before coming to report to you."

"It's fine. So, how did the surgery go?"

"How about we go and see him while we talk?"

He just nodded, but quickly moved to follow her further into the medbay.

"We were able to remove the bullet fragments and thankfully they didn't hit anything vital, but going that long without treatment has left him open to infection."

They quietly approached the bed and he could see that Lucas was still hooked up to an IV. A nurse was gently sponging his face, arms and torso while carefully avoiding the bandage swathed around his waist.

"He lost a lot of blood and we are still transfusing him." Kristin pointed to the second clear bag. "We are also treating him with very strong antibiotics to counter the infection."

"He's going to be all right though?" The question came out as more of a statement, as if he could make it so just by saying it.

Kristin nodded slowly and he looked at her with alarm. That wasn't the definite answer he was looking for.

"What?"

"He's in bad shape, Jonathan. It's been years since I treated an actual gunshot wound. Newer weapons are more efficient at killing, but ironically when they just wound someone they actually often cauterize the wound. Unless they go right through, older projectile weapons leave bullets or metal fragments inside the victim. I have no idea how old their ammunition is, but this bullet virtually splintered on impact. Aside from blood loss, that causes even more problems."

Jonathan looked back down at Lucas' face and again noted the flushed features. His hair, so often the subject of good-natured teasing was now plastered to his scalp. Even as he slept his body was still shivering.

Kristin pointed to the monitor keeping track of his vital signs. "His BP is still erratic and his heart rate is still too fast, but the real concern is his temperature. We are trying to get it down, but he isn't co-operating yet."

Ford smiled slightly at her explanation. Lucas was well known for being stubborn when he wanted to be. He just hoped that this time that stubbornness would work in his favour.

* * *

Lieutenant Jansen ushered his charges out of the shuttle and reported them in. As he had been directed already, he started off towards medbay with the small group in tow. He glanced over at the small child clinging onto the teenage girl. He hadn't said a word since they left Node 3. Everybody on the _seaQuest _knew about the claims against Lucas, but not all of them were privy to details about Micah. Jansen had been briefed before leaving to collect him and knew all about what the child had been through. He thought about his own two young nieces and shuddered at the thought of anything so awful happening to them.

As the group arrived in the medbay, Jansen could see Commander Ford standing off to one side talking with Doctor Westphalen. They both turned as the group entered and Kristin hurried to pull a curtain across in front of a bay.

"Lieutenant, any problems?"

"Nothing at all, Sir."

"Good."

Ford turned toward the teenagers and forced on a smile. "Nick, Julianna, good to see you both again. I just wish it was under better circumstances."

They both nodded and Julianna stepped forward towards the doctor. Micah was still clinging to her neck and refused to lift his face.

"Is he all right?" The fear was written across her face for all to see.

Kristin smiled brightly. "He will be. He's tougher than most people give him credit for."

Julianna could hear the forced optimism, but didn't care. Sometimes it's just enough to be told what you need to hear. For the moment, she was prepared to accept that answer, as it was better than the alternative.

"Um, this is Micah. I haven't been able to get him to eat since he arrived. Otherwise he seems to be all right. I mean, physically at least."

Kristin just nodded and looked sympathetically at the child in her arms. "Do you suppose you could help me do a quick checkup? He seems to trust you."

Ford started to head for the door with Jansen only a step behind him. "We'll leave you to it, Doctor."

Kristin had already begun to head for another exam table and just nodded in response. With nothing better to do than stand in the middle of the room, Nick followed them over to the table. He kept glancing towards the curtain across the room, but figured he'd have to wait until Micah was out of sight before he could check on his friend. The kid had seen far too much already.

* * *

It only took a few minutes once they had left medbay for Ford to get all the mission details from Jansen. According to the security staff at the Node and Nick's own monitoring, nobody from the colony had thought to try looking there for Micah. He dismissed the lieutenant and began to stride down the corridor towards the bridge.

Even though their information was still patchy, he was beginning to formulate a theory as to why Lucas had left the safety of the Node and tried to return to the colony. There was no longer any doubt in his mind that Lucas wasn't trying to find the _seaQuest _and had, in fact, deliberately gone back to the colony. He urgently needed to speak with the captain about his theory, but surprisingly, O'Neill still hadn't called him to say he was able to get in contact.

As he was wondering about what was taking so long, he hurried through the clam doors just in time to hear the tail end of a transmission.

"What was that?" he asked.

Hitchcock turned to face him, her face a mask of worry. "I'm sorry, I was just about to call you. That was Ben and he said that Captain Bridger is missing."

"Missing?"

"And apparently so is Daniel Aroro."

Ford felt his stomach clench in a knot. "And the rest of our people?"

Katie nodded with relief, "All accounted for. They are currently co-ordinating a search with the colony's chief of security."

"What's our ETA for the colony?"

"About twenty five minutes."

Ford looked around at the faces nearest him. He could see each one of them was thinking along the same lines he was.

"Captain Bridger can handle himself." He spoke the words with authority, hoping nothing slipped through in his voice.

Katie just nodded obligingly as he spoke. It wasn't that she doubted the captain, but what kind of person could murder his own brother and order the "accidental" death of his nephew?

"We know that, Jonathan, but if Aroro really did kill his brother and he thinks the net is closing, that makes him a pretty desperate man."

"Captain Bridger _can_ handle himself."

Nobody spoke, but each of them was acutely aware of the time still needed to get them back to the colony.

"Get me through to Crocker. I want to know everything that's going on there."

"Aye, Sir." O'Neill pulled his headset back up and dialed in his PAL frequency.

* * *

Bridger found himself sitting across from what had, until recently been Samuel Aroro's desk. It had only taken a few minutes for them to reach the office, but Daniel had seemed agitated all the way there. The captain was wondering what sort of evidence had turned up to bring on this change of heart, but had decided to allow Daniel to tell him in his own fashion. After all, it had only been a matter of days since he had seen his brother murdered and been handed the reins, almost by default.

As he sat now and watched, the other man was frantically searching through a computer. Maybe he was looking for something to corroborate the evidence, but the look on his face was growing increasingly angry. From behind the screen Bridger couldn't make out what he was doing and Daniel's muttered comments weren't helping clarify anything.

Finally the captain decided he had been patient long enough and he moved forward in his chair before clearing his throat. Before he had a chance to speak, his PAL began to beep. As he was reaching into his pocket Daniel suddenly sprang out of his seat.

"Don't answer that!"

"What?"

It only took seconds, but somehow Daniel had a pistol raised and aimed squarely at his chest. "I said, don't answer that." The growl behind the words was a clear enough threat without the added emphasis of a weapon.

Bridger slowly spread his hands to show he wasn't moving for his PAL. "What the hell are you doing? You said you had evidence that backed our story … unless … of course …" he shook his head as realisation dawned on him. "You! You're the one who falsified the evidence. But that would mean … that you …"

"That I killed Samuel. Exactly, so don't doubt me when I say I'm quite prepared to kill you too!"

The captain looked at the man before him with barely restrained anger. _"And it was you who ordered for Lucas to be shot too!"_

"Now, Captain, that sidearm of yours. _Slowly _remove it and put it on the table." He waved the pistol for further menace, but it was unnecessary.

Bridger slowly reached out to unclip his holster and slid his only weapon onto the table. Daniel quickly grabbed for it and slipped it inside his belt, behind his back.

"So, now what? You shoot me too?" The captain stared at his captor, but the other man refused to make eye contact.

"That wasn't my plan, but don't misunderstand me. I will do whatever I have to. Now get up." He waved the pistol again and pointed towards the door.

Bridger slowly stood up and waited for his moment as Daniel stood up behind him. Without warning, he shot out a foot and kicked the man in the shin before elbowing him sharply in the ribs. As Daniel grunted in pain he began to drop to the floor before grabbing at one of the chairs. It toppled over under his grasp and he pitched forward, momentarily caught off balance. Bridger started for the weapon tucked in his belt, but Daniel kicked out viciously and tripped the older man. The captain crashed headfirst to the ground, knocking over a metal stand on the way down.

He was momentarily dazed by the impact, but quickly shook it off. As he twisted sideways to get back on his feet, Daniel pointed the pistol and fired off two rounds. One ricocheted off the metal and scorched a path across the floor. Bridger froze where he was as he could see the other bullet lodged in the wall only inches above his head.

"Get up!" The pistol tracked his movements as he slowly stood up again. "I've got twenty years on you so don't bother trying that again. I still need you or else you'd be dead right now. Don't over-estimate my patience though. Try anything like that again and I won't miss the next time."

Bridger touched the side of his face and felt blood trickling down from his forehead. He glared at the other man, but kept his mouth shut as he was waved out of the room.

* * *

The trio of _seaQuest _officers stood to one side as the gathering crowd listened to Thomas and Harold. The two men had somehow managed to get word out that the colony was under threat and it looked as though everybody had just downed tools and rushed to the town square.

"We don't have time to be standing here," Ben growled under his breath.

He felt a hand on his forearm and looked across to see Crocker shaking his head at him. "Take it easy. We need these people to help us find him."

Ben knew he was right, but he felt like they were taking too long to get out and start looking. If Aroro was in the frame of mind they assumed he was then the captain was in serious danger and the longer they waited, the worse it got.

Crocker pointed towards where Mark Pederson was sitting. "Don't let that one out of your sight. I don't trust him as far as I can throw him."

Miguel nodded. "I get the impression he's trying to save himself here. As the head of security he had to be in on it with Daniel. Either that, or he's extremely stupid."

"Doesn't strike me as being stupid," Crocker agreed. "We still need to find out what's going on here. What kind of trouble did Lucas stumble into?"

Ben nodded at him. "Katie said Ford was sending a couple of shuttles out west of here to check out something odd."

"Did she elaborate at all?"

"Nope. I guess my news that Captain Bridger was missing kind of overshadowed that."

* * *

Daniel certainly knew his way around the colony and Bridger guessed he could have done it with his eyes shut. As they trekked down an obviously rarely used corridor he tried to take note of where they were going, but soon realised he could not have found his way back.

Deciding he had nothing to lose, he ventured a question. "Where are we going?"

Daniel just growled at him without actually answering.

"So are my people going to find my corpse dumped somewhere in a back alley? Not exactly original."

"Shut up! You're my insurance out of here, that's all."

"You see, that's what I don't understand about all this. Why are you so hell-bent on leaving and what was stopping you from going in the first place? Why resort to murder?"

Bridger knew he was pushing his luck but he also figured the best chance he had was to catch Daniel off guard and hope for the best. Waiting for his crew to find out where he was seemed like it could take too long for them to be of any help.

* * *

Julianna watched as Nick came back. He looked scared but was obviously trying to put on a brave face. For her or for Micah she couldn't quite tell, but either way she could see right through it. He wasn't prepared to speak in front of Micah so she would just have to wait to see Lucas for herself.

Micah had reluctantly allowed Doctor Westphalen to examine him and Julianna had stayed there to keep him calm. The whole time Kristin kept up a running chatter that Micah didn't once respond to, but the warm, motherly tone seemed to ease some of the tension in his body. Once she was satisfied that he wasn't injured in any way she turned her attention to his other needs.

Taking a small amount of his skin between her fingers she gently squeezed it. She frowned slightly but said nothing. It seemed that she was weighing options but Julianna had no idea what they were.

"Well he won't die of starvation but he is very dehydrated. I'll be back in a moment."

By the time she returned with an IV, Micah had almost fallen asleep. Kristin looked at the small child and could barely hold back her thoughts. He didn't fight as she gently inserted the needle and by the time she had hung the bag and turned back he really had faded out.

She reached out to smooth his hair before draping a blanket over him. "I imagine he will sleep for a while if you want to go," she whispered to Julianna. She watched as the teenager seemed reluctant to get up from beside the bed. "Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on him."

Julianna still didn't move and Kristin realised it wasn't just concern for Micah that was making her stay put. She was scared of what she would find across the medbay. Kristin walked around the bed and laid a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Don't torture yourself by wondering. Come and see him."

Finally Julianna nodded and stood up. Nick reached out a hand to grab hers as he gently pulled her forward. Across the room, the curtain had been pulled around, mainly to protect Micah from seeing anything more that he would have to cope with. Now that he was asleep the curtain was eased back and Julianna could see Lucas for the first time.

Her free hand was over her mouth and she swallowed back the tears that threatened. Somebody had made a mistake. This wasn't Lucas! Her Lucas was full of life. Not hooked up to monitors that bleeped information she couldn't understand. Her Lucas would look at her with a cheeky grin and make her laugh. He wasn't groaning in pain with a deep furrow etched into his forehead. Her Lucas would reach out tentatively and hold her hand. Not be clutching a handful of bed sheet and twisting it in torment.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and realised that Nick was still standing behind her. She had nowhere to run to and immediately felt ashamed of herself for wanting to run. Instead she forced her jelly legs to move forward towards the bed. A nurse was still sponging cooling liquid over his torso. It didn't seem to be making much difference. She could feel the heat radiating off his body as she leaned forward to whisper in his ear. As she stood up again, she reached out to brush the hair from his face and wasn't surprised at how damp his skin felt beneath her hand. Doctor Westphalen was talking with the nurse on the other side in a hushed tone but neither Julianna nor Nick could mistake the worried look passing between them.


	12. Chapter 12

**If you are a science major and I got it horribly wrong in this chapter then please let me know because I struggled through all high school science except biology. I originally wanted something that would explode, but that didn't pan out. Maybe I should have taken more notice in class. Probably would have if only it was more exciting. It occurred to me that maybe researching "explosive/hazardous chemicals" on the net wasn't such a good idea. If I don't get to posting the rest of this you know I've been hauled in for questioning! Or blown myself up. Could you just drop a note to the Federal Police for me and explain it was all just research for a story? That is, of course, assuming you want the end to the story.**

**Chapter Twelve**

"Commander, we're being hailed. It's the UEO investigative team."

"Put them through, Tim."

The main screen momentarily lit up with the UEO symbol before a face appeared. "My name is Dennis Beckman and we've been sent to investigate the murder of Samuel Aroro."

"We've been expecting you, but I'm afraid there's been some further developments since you were dispatched. It isn't safe for you to dock with the colony at present. When you come aboard I'll fill you in, but for now we are in the middle of a situation that needs my attention."

"Commander, I understand it's a member of your crew who has been accused and we are supposed to investigate from an impartial basis. I don't think that …"

Ford didn't have the time or the patience to deal with a bureaucrat and promptly cut him off. "If you want to get shot at, feel free to head straight to the colony! If you would like to stay alive to conduct your investigation then I suggest you do as I asked."

The screen went blank as Ford abruptly disconnected the call. He glanced across at Hitchcock who was trying her best to keep a straight face.

Before either of them could comment, O'Neill was fielding another call.

"Commander, I've got one of our shuttle crews on the line."

Ford looked up again at the comms officer and nodded eagerly. "Put them through."

As always, the main screen came to life in seconds and Tim could see it was Watts at the helm. "Commander, we are at the co-ordinates you gave us. You aren't going to believe this, but there's a drill platform here. It seems to be abandoned. Well, there's no signs of life anyway. Nobody's answering our hails and there's no indication anybody's home."

"Understood. Get us some footage and get back here as soon as possible. _seaQuest _out."

* * *

Ben was following Thomas down yet another service corridor that looked just like all the others. They finally arrived at a small office which seemed pretty basic by most colonies' standards. A large desk sat towards the far wall, but as they entered the room, both men could immediately see that some sort of altercation had taken place there. Chairs were tipped over and a metal waste reclamation unit was lying on the floor.

Ben knelt down by it to examine a mark on the wall and realised a small caliber bullet was lodged there. As he looked a little further, he could see another bullet scorch mark on the floor. He reached out to lean on the reclamation unit in order to stand up, but his hand slipped on something slick. His stomach recoiled as he pulled his hand back to look at it. Fresh blood was streaked across his fingers. He looked up to see Thomas watching him.

"You don't think …"

"No! I don't think!" Ben grabbed his PAL from his pocket while wiping his hand on his leg. "Chief, they were here not too long ago; in Samuel's office."

"How do you know that?" Crocker's voice sounded hollow and he guessed they were off somewhere with poor reception.

"Because this blood's fresh." Ben could visualise the look on Crocker's face as the words came out of his mouth.

"Anything else?"

"Nope, but there's two bullet holes here. Daniel's armed and obviously prepared to shoot."

Neither man was prepared to speculate any further on that idea. "We're not far from the launch bay. I'm guessing he'll try to get out of here and thinks Bridger's his ticket out."

"Ford isn't just going to let him leave."

"Would you want to make that choice?"

"We both know that Ford runs strictly by the book. He won't negotiate with a criminal and Bridger won't be expecting him to."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't count on that, Ben. I can't see Ford letting the cap'n die over protocols."

When Ben tried to respond he got nothing back but static on his PAL. "Damn. They must have moved out of range." He turned back to Thomas. "All right we need to keep moving."

When Thomas didn't reply, Ben repeated the order, only slightly louder.

"Um, do you know what cinnabar is?"

"Anything like cinnamon?" He looked over to see Thomas was scanning something on the computer screen. "What?"

"Cinnabar? Do you know what it is?"

"No idea. Why?"

"Because it looks like Daniel was trying to wipe things on here but this email mentions deposits of cinnabar. "

Ben quickly moved around the desk to see what Thomas was going on about.

He shook his head as he read the remainder of a partially wiped document. "Never heard of it … … but I have heard of these idiots." He pointed to the screen. "He sent this to somebody at Zalco Mineral Exploration."

"Who is that?"

"A shonky, fly-by-night outfit that has a habit of finding small mineral deposits that were considered financially unviable and mining them for a profit."

"How do they do that if they are considered unviable?"

"Well, when you remove any kind of safety protocols or a small thing called ethics, you can turn a profit from a lot of things."

Ben reached for his PAL again and called up the _seaQuest. _As he impatiently drummed his fingers on the bench he continued to scroll through whatever else he could find on the computer. "Come on. Answer."

"Ford here. Have you found Captain Bridger yet, Ben?"

"Not yet, but Crocker's gone to the launch bay in case Aroro thinks he's leaving here. Miguel is covering the far sector with two more teams. Commander, we've found something here I think you should know. Zalco Minerals is involved here somehow."

"Zalco! Are you sure about that?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Do you happen to know what cinnabar is?"

Ford glanced around the bridge and got nothing back but blank looks. As he was about to answer, Lieutenant Blacker called out from behind his console. "Mercuric sulfide!"

"What?"

"Cinnabar is the raw form of mercury; well actually I think it's the ore it's found in. Just looked it up in the database, Sir."

"Ben, are you telling me these people are mining _mercury_?"

"It looks that way."

"It's been outlawed by the UEO since 2014 for a good reason. That stuff's highly toxic." Ford shook his head at the stupidity of the situation.

"And extremely rare, which also makes it extremely valuable on the black market."

Blacker continued to read over the information on his screen when another thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Commander! Those seismic disturbances … … they could have been blasting, trying to expose a vein."

Ford stared at him for a moment before replying. "I'm guessing cinnabar is just as toxic as actual mercury."

"It says here …" Before he could finish he was cut off by O'Nell.

"Commander, I've got Chief Crocker for you."

"Put him through, main speakers."

"Commander, we just got down to the launch bay and we were too late. He's already made it through the net." Crocker stood inside the launch bay and watched as the bubbles subsided. Only moments before, a submersible of some sort had left the dock. Since the colony wasn't equipped with any kind of automated outer security seals, there was nothing he could do to stop them.

"Are you sure the captain is with him?"

Crocker frowned as he nodded. "Yes, Sir. There's no sign of Bridger and no logical reason why Daniel wouldn't have taken him along. And, Commander … Ben found two spent bullets and traces of blood. "

Ford shook his head in frustration. "O'Neill, hail that shuttle!"

"Ah, I don't need to, Commander. He's hailing us."

"Well, put him through."

Ford turned to the main viewscreen as the image of a stranger appeared on the screen.

"Commander Ford I assume?"

"And you must be Daniel Aroro."

"I expect to be allowed safe passage from here and nobody is going to follow me or track me."

Ford would have laughed at the audacity of that statement if it hadn't been so serious. "You are wanted for murder, kidnapping and a whole host of other things and you think I am just going to sit back and watch you leave."

"Well my chauffeur is probably of more importance to you than me so, yes, I do expect you to sit back and watch us leave."

The man on the screen stared at them in defiance, but Ford could see trickles of sweat running down his face. He wasn't as confident as he sounded.

"And just in case the life of your captain isn't enough to persuade you, then think about this. I'm sure you have seen it for yourself already, but not far from here is a small mining claim. My partners have rigged a little surprise should anybody come nosing around. It won't take much to swing past there and set it off. Now, I suggest that you turn off those sensors of yours and forget about tracking me out of here."

Ford stared at the screen; his face a taut mask. Slowly the image on the screen before him panned out to reveal the captain sitting at the controls of the shuttle. Blood was streaked down the side of his face and Aroro stood behind him with a pistol aimed at the back of his head. Ford unconsciously clenched his fists at the sight.

Daniel smirked at the look on Ford's face. "Maybe you'd like to check your orders with your captain?"

"Commander, he's telling the truth about the drilling platform. What he hasn't told you, is what's out there."

"We already know that, Captain. Cinnabar ore!"

Bridger just nodded at him. It didn't surprise him that his XO was already ahead of the game. "Well then, you know the consequences if that vein is exposed. The waters in this area will be contaminated for years to come. Once it gets in the food chain, nothing here will be edible. Oxygen and water reclamation will be off-limits. It will be a death warrant for Hope Colony."

"I know." Ford stared at the screen as though he were computing this new information.

Tim frowned as he didn't envy Ford the choice he may soon have to make. Sacrifice his captain or sacrifice a colony full of innocent people.

"Jonathan."

"Sir."

"Whatever happens, I expect you to do your duty!"

Ford felt sick to the stomach at what Bridger had just said. Saving civilians always came ahead of anything else. With that one small comment, the captain had just let him off the hook.

"Yes, Sir."

As the screen faded out and was replaced by the UEO symbol Ford turned around to look at Hitchcock. "Ideas?"

"We can't just let him leave."

"And we can't allow a monumental ecological disaster either. But we can beat him out to that drill site."

"What are you thinking?"

"He claims he has some sort of remote detonation option. It has to be electronic so what if we hit the area with an EMP? "

Katie nodded in appreciation as she felt the first glimmer of hope. "And neutralise his threat before we …"

"Before we go and get our captain back!"

Ford turned around to see several nods of approval. Not that he needed anybody's approval to put his idea into action, but it always felt good to have the backing of the senior crew. "Lieutenant, I expect _Mother _can do the job of tracking them unaided."

"Yes, Sir. On it already," Blacker grinned as he turned back to his console.

"Just keep out of sight." He turned back towards Katie. "Get us out to that drill platform, full speed."

"Aye, Sir."

Ford headed over towards the weapons array. Firing an electro-magnetic pulse wasn't something he had ever had to really consider before but in this case it was their best weapon. In fact, it was their only one. He factored in all the details he had to determine the size of the pulse needed to knock out any electronic detonator. It also had to take into account the nearby unshielded colony so he didn't wipe out their electronic systems as well. Katie looked as he ran the calculations and just nodded when he was done. Having agreed it was sufficient, they both stood back to wait while the huge submarine silently raced to its destination.

* * *

Daniel smirked as the screen went blank before him. "You people are all the same."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I just threatened to blow your head off and your man there just agrees to do his duty!"

"He's a UEO officer. He knows what he has to do and he will do it."

Daniel let out a snort. "You sound just like Samuel. Don't allow emotion or reason to get in the way! Just do your solemnly sworn duty. And deal with the fallout like a man!"

"Being a leader means making choices that are sometimes hard to swallow. There isn't always a black or white answer."

"Hard to swallow! What if you are the one who is having choices made for you and you don't get any say?" The bitterness flowing out of the words was almost physical.

Bridger smiled slightly. "I'm in the military. Plenty of choices have been made that I have no say over."

"And did any of those choices take away people you loved?"

The captain swallowed down the anger that was quickly rising. "As a matter of fact … yes."

"And were you angry at those responsible?"

When the captain didn't answer immediately, Daniel continued on. "What would you have done to those responsible if you could have done something?"

"I don't know what happened between you and Samuel, but I can't ever imagine that murder is the answer."

Daniel stepped away as if to avoid the accusation. His eyes clouded over as he remembered going to Samuel's quarters to reason with him one last time. "It wasn't supposed to be," he whispered.

Bridger realised he had a momentary lapse in concentration from his captor and he took the chance. He tried to ease out of the seat as quietly as possible, but Daniel swung back just as he made it to his feet. Without stopping to think, he lunged at the younger man and the two of them toppled to the floor. Daniel frantically waved the pistol, but Bridger had his lower arm pinned to the floor and he couldn't get a clear shot. He knew he wouldn't survive if he didn't gain the upper hand quickly, so he instinctively smashed a fist into Daniel's face. The blow connected with a sickening thud and the pistol dropped to the floor.

Daniel tried to force the captain off balance by twisting a foot around his lower leg and kicking out. It almost worked and he pushed the other man far enough sideways to allow him to wriggle free. He quickly tried to reach the pistol, but the captain managed to pull him back. As the two of them grabbed for the pistol, Daniel got a finger grip on it and tried to slide it towards himself. Taking advantage of his distraction, Bridger rammed his fist into the other man's face again. The fingers on the pistol went slack and he looked down to see that this time the blow had done its job. Daniel's eye was already swelling shut and blood was streaming from his mouth.

"Twenty years huh?" he puffed as he slowly eased himself up onto his haunches. He reached out and began to unbuckle Daniel's belt.

"Ever see drunken sailors brawling?" As he pulled the belt from its loops he rolled Daniel onto his side and pulled his arms together behind him. He quickly pulled the belt around the man's wrists and tightened it.

"Because you are no match for them!" He sat back on the floor and tried to regain his breath. "At least they can land a punch." He reached out and rubbed at his own nose. It was obvious to anyone who had seen it that it had been broken more than once.

Daniel didn't move as the captain slowly stood up and slipped back into his seat. He turned the shuttle around and began to head back for the colony before he flipped the radio.

"This is Bridger calling the _seaQuest. _I hope you have your ears on, Tim."

In seconds the small viewscreen in the shuttle lit up to show O'Neill grinning at him. "Yes, Sir!"

Ford moved into view behind him. "Captain?"

"Commander. This cruise ship will be returning to port."

A cheer resounded around the Bridge as Ford quickly fed through the co-ordinates for the _seaQuest. _"In that case, so will we. We have you on the WSKRs and should rendezvous in about ten minutes."

"Have a security detail meet me in the launch bay."

"Yes, Sir." As Ford looked over at Hitchcock he could see his own thought mirrored on her face. _"That means Daniel is still alive."_

"Helm, set course back to the colony. Full speed." He turned back to Bridger on the viewscreen and knew instinctively what was coming next. Business was taken care of and now they could get to the personal.

"Jonathan … what's the news on Lucas?"

The length of time Ford hesitated in answering was all the captain needed to know. If it was good news he would have been eager to tell it.

"He came through surgery just fine. Kristin got all the bullet fragments out."

What hadn't been said just confirmed his suspicions. Bridger just nodded. "I'll see you shortly."

* * *

Captain Bridger was in no mood to be held up by trivial matters like first aid. He brushed aside the medic who tried to examine the source of the blood still oozing down his face.

"Later!" was all he said before turning to Ford. "I'll be in medbay. Get that shuttle cleaned out before I get back."

"Yes, Sir," Ford turned towards the shuttle and could see the security team had already moved in. Tucked firmly between them a man was struggling to stay on his feet. A deeply bruised and swollen mass of skin was forming where his left eye should have been and blood spatter from his split lip had sprayed all over the front of his shirt. Jonathan silently wondered if there were any teeth missing underneath it all. He looked for the medic who had been rebuffed by the captain and nodded in the direction of the prisoner. "You're going to be needed there."

It was only minutes before the captain arrived in the medbay, but to his anxious mind it seemed like days. While each person he passed had to look twice at their bloodied captain, none of the boat's personnel were about to interrupt his hurried steps.

As he rounded the corner into medbay he could see the lights weren't dimmed and it was obvious something was happening at the far end of the room. He ignored the nurse who tried to attend to him and raced towards the noise. Kristin glanced up as she sensed somebody had entered the room and did a quick double take when she saw him. "Nathan! What on Earth ..."

"Never mind," he cut her off abruptly. Before she could react he had reached the side of the bed and was watching intently as Lucas mumbled something incoherent. He cautiously reached out to grab Lucas by the hand and laid his other hand alongside the teenager's face. The intensity of the heat flowing back to him made him glance up at Kristin.

"He isn't responding to the antibiotics," she said quietly. "His temperature keeps spiking and we are having trouble getting it down."

The captain could see for himself that a large pad had been laid out over Lucas' body and from somewhere below the bed iced water was being pumped through it. It didn't seem to be making much difference judging by the state he was in.

"How long has he been like this?"

"A few hours now." She moved over towards him slowly. "Nathan, we really need to clean up that head wound."

"I'm not leaving him, so you can do it from here if you have to."

She sighed as she realised he was serious. With a small nod of her head she managed to get a nurse's attention and quietly asked for the necessary things to be brought to her. By the time she turned back to talk to him, the captain was leaning over the bed.

"C'mon, Kiddo, you made it this far. Don't quit on me now."

The only response he got was another spatter of incoherent words as Lucas seemed lost in the fire that was consuming him.

When the nurse arrived back, Kristin simply laid the kit out and reached out to push the captain back into a seat. He didn't resist but he also didn't let go of Lucas' hand. She gently began to clean the wound and silently wondered to herself what the other guy looked like.

* * *

**A/N I told you Bridger could handle himself! Just in case you were worried :-) **


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks again for those who have been kind enough to review. We are nearly there with probably one more chapter to go I think.**

**Chapter Thirteen**

Having made sure that Daniel Aroro was secured in the brig, Ford headed back towards the bridge. As he walked through the clam doors he caught O'Neill trying to stifle a yawn. It was all he could do to hold back one of his own.

"Lieutenant, you are relieved of duty."

Tim looked up with surprise and hoped that he hadn't been caught out yawning. "Aye, Sir."

Lucas was back and now the captain was too. It was only a matter of time before their team came back from the colony and there was nothing else he really needed to stay for. Well, nothing that somebody else couldn't handle. As he climbed out of his seat and placed the headset on the console he glanced up to see Ford watching him intently.

"Don't bother reporting back for your next shift." He raised a hand as Tim looked ready to object. "You need to sleep."

Tim just nodded vaguely while trying not to rub at his eyes. The dark smudge underneath each one betrayed the fact he had been on duty for at least … … how many hours was it? Or had it become days? He couldn't actually remember. Sleep sounded good and he focused on placing one foot in front of the other so he wouldn't embarrass himself by stumbling while leaving the bridge.

"I think that advice might apply to you too."

Ford had been watching O'Neill leave and was surprised to realise Katie was right. He _did_ need to sleep. But not yet. He still had things he needed to do and he didn't feel like having to explain any of it to anyone. Instead, he just nodded at her. "First I have something to deal with and then I'll sleep. You have the bridge."

He turned and walked out through the clam doors, knowing that she would have everything taken care of that needed to be followed up. Including one very annoyed UEO lead investigator. This was one of those times he didn't feel bad about delegating a job and he smiled slightly as he thought about what Beckman would say to her. Well, what he would _try_ to say.

* * *

Miguel was on his feet before Ben had even powered down the shuttle's engines. He was anxious to get back to the _seaQuest _and find out what was going on. Nobody he had dealt with at the colony seemed to really know much, but he suspected some of them knew more than they were letting on.

Crocker was leaning over to haul Pederson to his feet and Miguel stepped over to the other side of the man. Officially he wasn't a prisoner, but that didn't mean any of them thought he was innocent. The colony's security chief made no move to argue with any of the three men and quietly allowed himself to be escorted off the shuttle.

He didn't comment as a junior officer informed them that Commander Ford had ordered he be escorted to the wardroom and for them to see to their guest's needs. The euphemism for being guarded didn't make it any easier to swallow.

Crocker had a hand on his "guest's" elbow as he pointed the way towards the wardroom. It didn't escape his attention that the two officers with him were both casting glances towards the far door instead.

"Ben, why don't you go down to medbay and get us all an update? We can handle this."

Krieg looked momentarily torn as he knew what he _should _be doing, but it only took seconds for him to latch onto what was being offered. He grinned at Crocker before practically running for the door. Miguel just nodded as they headed out in the opposite direction.

Walking stiffly between them, Mark Pederson looked like a man being led to the gallows.

* * *

Julianna stood just inside the doors to medbay, tucked out of the way of any medical personnel. She had been watching for some time but could not bring herself to move any closer. There were few times in her life where she could say she had wished away her superior intellect, but this was definitely one of them. Being able to not just _play_ dumb, but actually _be_ ignorant would have been bliss right about now. Instead, her mind kept replaying ideas that just refused to be silenced. She was ensnared in an ugly train of thought and completely unaware that somebody was barreling down the corridor towards her.

As Ben rounded the corner he couldn't pull up in time to stop himself from running into the nurse leaning against the wall. "Sorry, sorry, not looking where I was … Julianna?"

She stared at him as she tried to regain her composure. "Um, I'm sorry, I can't remember …"

He held out a hand towards her. "Ben, Ben Krieg. Are you OK?" The question was out of his mouth before he stopped to think and he immediately wanted to kick himself. Of course she wasn't OK. Any idiot could see that just by looking at her face.

"Yeah, sorry, I remember now. Lucas talks about … "She swallowed hard and tried to stop herself from allowing the tears to start again. Sucking in a breath and focusing on the ceiling may have just stopped the tears but it didn't make her feel any better.

"Um, why are you over here?" Ben didn't really think he wanted the answer to that question, but it seemed strange that she was hiding across the room.

"I can't … I just … I …," The tears that had barely been held back suddenly broke loose and she found herself sobbing uncontrollably.

Ben felt his stomach twist into a knot. Were things worse than they'd been told? Without really thinking, he reached out to the girl and she crumpled into his arms. The front of his shirt was quickly soaked and he could feel her trembling as she tried to stifle the sobs. Not knowing what else to do he just allowed her to cling to him and cry. For a brief moment he felt awkward that a teenage girl was crushed against him, but he quickly pushed it aside and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. If he was the one who could help relieve her pain, then he was happy to do it.

It didn't do anything to relieve his own anxiety though and he looked over her head to see Doctor Levin coming towards him. The usually cheery doctor looked far too serious for his liking.

"Hey, Doc. What's the news?"

Joshua looked at him for a moment as though he was considering what to say in front of Julianna. She pulled back from Ben, looking slightly embarrassed by her outburst. "I'm sorry. I just, um …"

"It's OK, don't sweat it. I'm worried about him too." He reached out to squeeze her hand before turning back to Levin.

"Doc?"

"His fever is causing some problems. Each time they think they are getting it down, it spikes again."

Julianna looked up at Ben and he just squeezed her hand again.

"But what about treatments? Drugs, that kinda thing?"

"They're working on it. But deep tissue infection isn't always easy to treat."

"What _aren't _you saying?" Ben knew he wasn't getting the whole picture and wasn't sure if he was being fobbed off or Levin was just trying to protect Julianna.

Levin sighed before deciding it wasn't worth trying to hide anything. "He lost a lot of blood and he went into shock before we got to him. His whole system is severely weakened and I honestly don't know that he has the strength to fight off this infection."

Ben felt his hand being crushed as Julianna sucked in her breath. He knew it was taking all her strength to stop from crying again. Now he understood why she was hiding by the door earlier, but the doctor's dire words suddenly made him feel that he needed to see for himself.

He knew it was irrational but he had been working on the assumption that once Lucas made it back to the _seaQuest _he would be alright. It felt almost like that childlike sense that nothing bad could cross the magic threshold and he shook his head at his own superstitious nonsense.

Joshua misread the action and looked away uncomfortably. Kristin always said the worst part of being a doctor was delivering bad news and she truly hated it. Right now he knew exactly what she meant. "He's young and healthy." He felt as though he was clutching at straws, but it was better than nothing.

"And don't forget, stubborn," Ben added in; a forced grin plastered on his face.

"Oh yeah!" Joshua smiled slightly before turning serious again. He looked at Ben, but was watching Julianna as well as he spoke. "Are you ready to see him?"

Ben squeezed her hand for encouragement, but as he looked across he could see she was struggling to keep calm. Trying to speak would have brought on a fresh flood of tears so she just nodded. He gently tugged her hand and together they moved across the medbay. A place that generally seemed so small, suddenly seemed cavernous.

* * *

Ford paused on the far side of the wardroom door to take a moment to gather his thoughts. From what he understood the man on the other side of that door was responsible for the shoot-to-kill order against Lucas. How deeply he was involved with Aroro remained to be seen, but that one charge was enough. He drew in a deep breath before confidently striding into the room.

Crocker and Ortiz were both within a few feet of the door and he noticed Pederson sat at the table. The man looked to be only a few years older than he was.

He quite deliberately closed the door and slowly turned to face the other man. With his hands on his hips he appeared to be weighing something up. He knew exactly where his legal authority started and ended, but making a good impression was always worthwhile. To his credit, Ford noted that Pederson barely moved as he looked up at the officer.

"You don't have any right to hold me here."

"_Really_?"

"I'm a UEO citizen and I know my rights."

Jonathan barely contained a snort. "Oh, so _now_ you want to claim citizenship?" Slowly and deliberately he walked over to the table and placed his palms far enough apart that he could lean directly into the other man's face. "Let me assure you that the UEO is _very _interested in you right now. In fact I have a team of investigators here who will be very keen to talk with you. Shooting an unarmed minor will be at the top of the list. That's called attempted murder. Assuming he survives. Not to mention an _actual_ murder and …"

"I had nothing to do with that!"

"Well, luckily for you, the investigators will be digging to the bottom of that one and not us. Because if it was up to me you'd be loaded into a torpedo tube and blasted out again." The last words were a barely concealed whisper but Pederson heard them clearly and visibly bristled at them. He looked over at the other two officers to see if they had heard.

"He's threatening me! Did you hear that?"

Crocker and Ortiz glanced at each other before Ortiz just shrugged. "Hear what?"

"You're all gonna stick together aren't you?" Pederson spat out angrily. "What about my rights? You can't threaten me and get away with it!"

Ford stood up and crossed his arms. "You are lucky that you are aboard a UEO vessel where we _don't _carry out our own justice. Because there are a lot of people here who could quite happily see you fed to the sharks."

He turned to walk towards the door and nodded to Crocker "Chief, take him to the brig and make sure he has no contact with Aroro. Let the UEO team know he's there."

"Aye, Sir."

As Jonathan walked out the door it was all he could do not to slam a fist into the wall. This was the man responsible for nearly killing Lucas, not to mention a whole host of other crimes and all he was concerned about was _his _rights. Some days Justice seemed to be a whole lot less than just.

* * *

As they approached the far end of the medbay, Ben could see the captain sitting beside the bed. He had his back to them, but he didn't miss their footsteps behind him. He looked up to see Ben and nodded in acknowledgement. He was surprised to see Julianna standing beside him and realised he hadn't even thought about whether or not Micah was aboard. Right now, the only kid he was concerned about was the one who was struggling to draw breath in front of him.

Kristin had assured him they were doing everything they could, but it didn't seem to be making any difference. As Bridger watched, Lucas was still shivering uncontrollably. As soon as the nurse sponged cooling liquid onto his burning skin it seemed to evaporate before his eyes. He was acutely aware that Lucas' earlier, fever-induced rambling had mostly subsided. It wasn't a sign however that his fever was dropping. Rather it showed his body was weakening further.

Ben nudged Julianna towards the bed. It was obvious she had been crying and the captain was struck by how much younger she looked than the last time he had seen her. Just another kid really. Except this one had managed to break through Lucas' reserve and it was obvious to all who knew him how much Lucas cared for her. Only a handful of people knew the real depth of their relationship and he watched her now with a wave of sympathy.

She tried to find the words for her questions and silently mouthed a couple of words before clamping her mouth shut again. Ben leaned around beside her and took over where she couldn't bring herself to go.

"How's he doing?"

Bridger hesitated before answering. "Not good."

He nodded toward the monitor across from him and both Ben and Julianna could see for themselves.

"106.2," Ben half whispered. "Isn't that …" Before he could finish the question, Kristin reappeared. She whispered an instruction to the nurse before taking over from her.

"Dangerous? Yes." She looked across at Julianna and smiled. "Did Micah's carer get here already?"

Julianna looked surprised at the sudden change of topic and nodded vaguely. "Um, her name's Mrs Berriman, I think. Somebody put the two of them in some guest quarters." She looked away and realised the doctor already knew that. Micah had only been discharged from medbay into the care of somebody he thought of as family.

"And weren't you and Nick assigned some quarters as well?"

She just nodded. "I couldn't sleep. I thought that …" Ben squeezed her hand again as she struggled to keep an even voice. "Is he going to be all right? I mean, I don't know much about medicine, but I know that high temperatures can cause brain damage."

Now that the question had been voiced she wished desperately to be able to take it back. Kristin looked at her for a moment before answering.

"You're right; they can. We really have no way to determine that until Lucas wakes up."

"When will that be?"

Kristin shook her head. "I don't know. It probably won't be for some time though." She tried to muster a smile for the terrified girl in front of her. "And when he does he's going to want to see you, but for now you need some rest."

She looked across towards Ben. "Lieutenant, perhaps you could escort Julianna back to the guest quarters. She may not remember how to get there."

Ben frowned slightly as he really wanted to stay put, but he quickly put on a smile. Kristin was right. Julianna needed to rest and this wasn't the place for that. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and steered her towards the door.

Kristin looked back towards where the captain was still sitting. She would have liked to send him off to rest as well, but knew that wasn't going to happen. Instead she pulled over another chair and sat down beside him. She noted the dark marks that raked the top of his knuckles as he grasped Lucas' hand in his. Her medic had reported back on the condition of the prisoner in the brig and she shuddered. It didn't go unnoticed and the captain turned towards her.

"What?"

When she didn't answer he tried again. "Kris, what's wrong?"

Tears began to well in her eyes and she tried to blink them away. "I thought I had lost both of you today."

He shook his head angrily. "No!" He was surprised at his own tone and he looked across at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, but no! Neither of us is going anywhere."

When Kristin didn't respond he leaned in towards her. "What are you thinking?"

She took a deep breath before answering. "What will you do if we don't get Lucas back? I mean … Lucas, as we know him?" The tears glistened in her eyes again.

He felt his chest constrict at her words. She hadn't spoken in front of the others, but here and now, with just him to hear her doubts, she couldn't keep them in. He looked up at the boy lying on the bed and gripped his hand tighter. He wanted to shout at her. To drown out the unthinkable idea she had just given voice to. Instead he found himself unable to speak.


	14. Chapter 14

**Well I thought I was on the last chapter, but it seemed there was more to wrap up than I thought. And I just couldn't resist tormenting Lucas a little bit more! So I'm thinking now the next one will be the end. **

**Thankyou as always for the kind reviews.**

**Chapter Fourteen**

_The darkness was all-consuming as it enveloped him. It took away all sensation and was totally disorientating. He had no idea how long he floated in the darkness, but it could have been weeks or even years for all he knew. There was nothing to indicate the passage of time and his mind recoiled from the total lack of stimuli._

_Gradually he became aware of a rhythmic echo that wafted through the darkness. It had a familiarity to it that his mind just couldn't define. His thoughts floated off again, but the echo stayed. He couldn't pinpoint the direction it was coming from. It just seemed to be all around him. He strained to make sense of it and finally a chink of memory welled up in his mind._

_It was a sonar ping!_

_No, it wasn't._

_That was too mechanical._

_Artificial._

_It was something less regular and precise._

_The effort of trying to make it out was exhausting, but he couldn't let go of it. Somebody was dangling a lifeline out of the darkness and he felt compelled to reach out for it._

_It was a heartbeat! Somehow he could feel it._

_It was as though he was wrapped up inside someone else as the heartbeat's rhythm gently echoed through his head. His mind latched onto that idea, but it didn't help. Other muffled noises began to filter through the darkness, but he couldn't define any of them._

"Lucas? Can you hear me?"

_He knew that voice. He just didn't know how he knew._

_He tried to respond, but couldn't think how to do that._

_His mind hurt. Strangely enough, nothing else hurt. He wondered how his mind could be floating free, all by itself. _

_Where was the rest of him?_

"Lucas, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand."

_How?_

_As his mind struggled to obey the instruction, the effort overwhelmed him and the darkness rolled back in to envelop him once again._

Bridger leaned back into his chair with a sigh of frustration. He was still holding Lucas' limp hand in his while silently willing the fingers to curl around his own. He was sure Lucas had been waking up, but obviously it was just wishful thinking.

"C'mon, Kiddo. I know you are in there somewhere."

His mind drifted off to another place where he had sat helplessly and held another hand. The last hours he spent with Carol she had been completely unaware he was even there. As he struggled to shut out the emotion that slammed into him, he was surprised at how raw it felt. It had been years and yet right now it felt like it was only days ago.

He forced the image aside and glanced down at his watch. Somehow it was morning already. His body felt stiff and achy as he stood up to stretch. The wound on his forehead was throbbing, but he ignored it. As he stretched out his hands he flexed his fingers to try to ease the stiffness in them. The bruising across his knuckles was now coming out and his hand looked a mixture of colours.

He silently clenched the fist again and thought about going down to the brig. He still had enough self-restraint to keep out of the UEO investigators' way, but if Lucas didn't come through this then … …

He eased himself back down into the chair and buried his face in his hands. Hadn't he just told Daniel the day before that he couldn't ever see that murder was an answer to anything? And yet, right now, he wanted nothing more than to rip the man to shreds.

Kristin had spent so many years in medical facilities that she could move almost silently and Bridger never heard her coming. He jumped as she laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry. I just thought you might like a coffee." She smiled as she held out the mug.

He rubbed at the back of his neck as he reached out to take it. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours."

It didn't matter how long it had been. Somehow it felt like he'd failed as he'd fallen asleep while Lucas needed him.

Kristin sat down beside him and answered as though she could read his thoughts. "I would have woken you if he needed anything."

"Have _you_ had any sleep?" he looked over and saw the same tiredness etched into her features as he felt in his own.

"A little. Joshua came in during the night and I slept over there." She pointed to another bed nearby that had crumpled bedding still strewn across it.

When he didn't answer she continued on. "The good news is that his temperature is coming down a little. It seems the antibiotics are finally starting to take effect."

The captain glanced across at the monitor and saw it for himself.

105.1.

Still way too high but at least it was finally moving in the right direction.

"I thought … it seemed like he was waking up before."

Kristin smiled and nodded. "He will. Just as soon as he's ready to."

The look of frustration on his face made her explain further. "He's not just asleep. He's unconscious and there's a difference. His body has shut down areas that he doesn't need in order to focus on healing. His senses are all suppressed and it takes a while for someone to come back out of that. It doesn't happen like waking up from a nap. Just give him some time, Nathan." She reached out and squeezed his hand.

He took a sip from the mug and felt the scalding liquid slide down his throat. He felt his own senses coming to life as the warmth flowed through him. Everything about him ached and as he looked himself over he realised just how bedraggled he looked. His uniform was missing buttons where Daniel had grabbed hold of it and flecks of dried, brown blood were splattered across his chest. He rubbed a hand across his face and felt the scratchy stubble along his jaw line.

"Why don't you go and have a shower? You'll feel better." Kristin hoped he wasn't going to argue with her.

He looked over at Lucas and she quickly jumped in. "He isn't going to wake up in the next twenty minutes. And when he does I don't want him being scared by the sight of you."

"Thanks very much!" he muttered. But she was right. "All right, but I'll have my PAL with me. Call me immediately."

She nodded at him before shooing him out of the seat.

* * *

Dennis Beckman had seen a lot in his years as an investigator. He frowned on anybody who took the law into their own hands and he had seen more than enough suspects who had been beaten. As he looked across at Daniel Aroro he was amazed the man could even speak to him. His eye was swollen shut and his lip was split in several places. Two teeth dangled precariously in his mouth and he suspected they would need to be pulled out.

He tried not to be jumping ahead of the evidence as the job required impartial observation and recording, but it was hard not to make assumptions. Somebody had beaten the man viciously and he was determined to find out the truth of the matter. Regardless of whom he was up against. Nobody in the UEO was exempt from the law.

"Mr Aroro, my name is Dennis Beckman. I'm the lead investigator sent out by the UEO to determine what, if any crimes have been committed here and who is responsible for them. At this stage you are free to seek legal counsel before speaking with me if you wish."

Daniel held up his hands to show the restraints that bound him. "Free!" he spat out. "I've never been free!"

"Mr Aroro, do you wish to engage legal counsel or not?"

"I've got nothing to say to you or anybody else."

Beckman had come up against this before and it didn't faze him at all. "I am here to determine the cause of death of your brother, among other things."

Aroro stared at him, but refused to speak any further. Finally Beckman was forced to call the guards back over and have the man returned to his cell. Maybe he'd have better luck with the other one.

* * *

Thomas walked around the office and picked up the last chair. It felt sacrilegious to see Samuel's normally well-ordered office in such disarray. Harold was trying to pick up the waste reclamation unit, but it was too heavy for him on his own. He called Thomas over to help and the two of them lifted it upright before setting it back on its stand. As he stepped away from the wall, Thomas leaned down to pick up a piece of paper that had fallen out of the unit. He could see handwriting on the paper and stopped himself from throwing it in.

"What?" Harold wondered what he was doing. "It's just rubbish."

Thomas couldn't quite explain it himself. "He was in here working. Just another day."

Harold frowned at him.

"Samuel. The last time he was in here it was just another work day. I wonder if he had any idea what was coming."

Harold sagged into the nearest chair. "I don't think anybody could have seen it coming. I mean, this Zalco group. How exactly did Daniel ever get mixed up with them?"

"Dunno." Thomas stared at the piece of paper that was scrunched up in his hands. He couldn't bring himself to throw it in the bin. As stupid as he felt, he just couldn't toss aside something that belonged to a man he had greatly admired. He walked over to the desk and hesitated before finally putting it down. It would be up to the Council to decide what to do with Samuel's effects and he was grateful that he didn't need to decide those things.

Harold watched him closely, but didn't say anything further.

* * *

"Have they been picked up yet?"

Noyce leaned forward in his chair and nodded. "Hans Jaco and Eduard Zalerman are currently trying to explain why their company was involved in an illegal mining operation. So far they are both blaming the other, but it's only a matter of time before the local investigators get something concrete to bring down both of them. They've been at this for too long and it seems we've finally got them where they should be."

Ford nodded towards the viewscreen. At least one investigation was going well.

"And I've got a team already working on a way to safely seal that cinnabar and prevent any kind of contamination for the colony."

"That's good news, Sir."

"How are things at your end, Jonathan?"

"The UEO team are preparing to charge Aroro and Pederson and then remove them from the _seaQuest_. It's a bit of a process to get through the necessary legal hoops to keep them in custody, but there's no way either of them are leaving here unless they are in cuffs."

Noyce didn't miss the tone behind the words and he couldn't say he blamed the young man on the screen in front of him.

"Jonathan, I want this one to be as clean as a whistle. I don't want either of them to have one inch to move with legal arguments and technicalities. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Is there anything else you need as far as the colony is concerned?"

"No, I think their Council is pulling together and trying to work through this all. I'm not sure there's anything we can do to help with that process."

"Possibly not, but I want the _seaQuest _to stay put for the moment. They may have been peaceful up 'til now, but this has got to have left major instability in its wake. Be prepared to step in if more civilians are at risk."

Ford nodded slowly.

"How's Lucas doing?"

Ford heard the hesitation in the question. "He came through surgery in one piece. Doctor Westphalen is treating the infection, but … … he's in pretty bad shape."

He heard Noyce suck in his breath and he glanced away.

"And Nathan?"

Ford couldn't quite suppress a grin as he looked up. "The other guy looks a whole lot worse."

The admiral just smiled as he shook his head. "Why am I not surprised?"

* * *

_Sounds drifted past. Time no longer had any meaning for his mind. The only thing he found he could actually hold onto was the heartbeat. Something about it wasn't quite right, but it was the only constant he could sense. Somehow it made the darkness a little less threatening._

_The sounds gradually began to resolve into something more intelligible. The heartbeat still echoed in his ear and he finally understood what was wrong with it._

_It sounded fake._

_His mind strained to make sense of why he could hear an artificial heartbeat._

"Lucas?"

_A voice whispered across his mind. It didn't fit the mechanical heartbeat._

"Please, you have to come back."

_Back?_

_Back to where? Somewhere that had machines with hearts?_

_The darkness pressed in around him and his mind tried to push against it._

"Do you remember the day I met you?"

_I don't even know who you are._

"You managed to both irritate and impress me all in the space of ten minutes."

_The tone behind the words was warm and he tried to latch onto them. Someone was dangling that lifeline again and he reached out to grasp it._

"Kristin! Did you see that? He moved!"

The doctor rushed back over towards the bed and tried to keep calm. It wasn't the first time that Nathan had thought Lucas was waking up, only to be disappointed.

_He felt the line in his hand and he grabbed it with all he could muster. It felt warm and somehow it wrapped itself around his hand. Were ropes supposed to do that?_

"There! I told you!" Nathan felt Lucas' fingers curl and squeeze his hand. It wasn't much and the grip was far from strong but it was enough.

"Come on, Kiddo. You're nearly there."

_The voice echoed in his mind and mingled with the heartbeat. Now the machine had a voice as well as a heart. The darkness tugged at his mind but something about the voice was stronger._

Kristin leaned over the bed and watched Lucas' face intently. Slight twitches preceded what they had all been waiting for.

"Welcome back," she whispered as he struggled to open his eyes.

The monitor beeped out a steady stream of bleeps and he tried to turn towards it. The heartbeat that had kept him company in the dark turned out to be his own.

His senses reeled as he tried to take in the sudden influx of information. The darkness was receding under the brightness of the lights but his head was still spinning.

"Lucas?" The captain leaned in as the teen just stared at him.

A swarm of questions flooded into his mind, but his mouth refused to give voice to any of them. His tongue felt dry and thick inside his mouth and he tried to make them understand he needed water. He opened his mouth again, but nothing came out.

"It's all right Lucas; take it easy." Bridger placed a calming hand alongside his face. He could see the panic rising in his eyes and rushed to head it off. "You're safe. You're in medbay."

_Safe. _

For now it was enough. The questions could wait.

Without any warning the darkness enfolded him again and he drifted away.

Bridger looked up at Kristin with alarm. "What just happened?"

She laid a hand on his arm and smiled calmly. "It's all right. I told you it could take a while for all his senses to come back. Don't worry, Nathan. He'll wake up again."

He glanced across at the monitor and noted the temperature readout was still dropping.

103.9.

Kristin hadn't been wrong about anything so far so he just had to trust she was right about this too.


	15. Chapter 15

**It's finally done! I think I've tied up all loose ends and dealt with everything I needed to. Thankyou to everyone who has been giving me feedback through the process. Much appreciated.**

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Don't you think you've had enough of faking it? I mean, the pretty nurses I understand, but seriously, isn't it about time you told them the truth? There's nothing wrong with you!"

Lucas grinned across at Ben, but declined to answer immediately.

The matching grin on Ben's face only slipped slightly before he stood up. "So, have you spoken with your father yet?"

It was always a sensitive question and especially so under the current circumstances.

"Yeah. The captain finally got hold of him yesterday. Their project has been quarantined, but he said as soon as they're allowed out he's coming to see me."

Ben smiled back at him. "Good to hear. Listen, I've gotta report for my shift. I'll come back later though."

"Sure. Maybe they might have kicked me out by then."

"Good luck with Beckman today."

Lucas tried to keep a neutral face, but Ben could read the emotion behind it anyway. He reached out a hand and clamped it down on Lucas' shoulder. "You'll be fine. Nobody believes you had anything to do with it."

Logic told him Ben was right, but a murky cloud still hung over his head. "Yeah, I know."

He watched Ben's retreating back before slowly sliding back down into the bed. The truth was he was still in need of the pain meds that Kristin insisted he take. He knew he was a long way from being discharged, but being able to joke as though things were normal made him feel significantly better.

Now he just needed to face the UEO investigators. Somehow, knowing that he had to be assumed innocent until proven guilty, really didn't help very much. He barely had time to close his eyes before he heard footsteps coming his way. He wished he could just keep his eyes closed and pretend they weren't there, but he heard the captain's voice before they arrived.

Bridger walked into the medbay flanked by a youngish man and a woman whose age he couldn't hope to guess. He'd always found Asian women seemed to age really well and were often older than they looked. If he'd been pressed on it, he might have guessed she was around fifty, mainly because of her style of clothing.

As if by magic, Kristin had simultaneously appeared from her office and she swooped in ahead of them. She placed herself between Lucas and the incoming group and it was all the captain could do to smother a smile.

"Doctor, this is the UEO investigators who are assigned to get a statement from Lucas. Is he up to it today?"

Lucas wanted them to go away, but he knew it was something he needed to get over and done with. "I'm fine, Captain."

Kristin swung around to face him. "I will be the judge of that." She turned back towards the two UEO representatives and held out a hand. "Kristin Westphalen."

"This is Dennis Beckman and Jess Chua." Bridger looked over towards Lucas. "Are you sure you're up to this?"

"Yep. Best I'm gonna be."

The captain noted the tone in the flippant comment and glanced back at Kristin. She didn't let him down.

"I'm putting some rules in place here. Lucas will be allowed to stop at any point he needs to rest. I am not going anywhere until you are done. And lastly, if I say it's time to stop, then it's time to stop."

"Understood, Doctor. We are just anxious to resolve this issue for the family's sake as well as the colony as a whole. Lucas' statement is the last major part of our investigation that's still outstanding."

Bridger pulled two chairs up to the side of the bed and then stepped back out of the way. There was no way he was going anywhere either, but he'd been told in no uncertain terms that just because he was there as a legal necessity for an interview with a minor, that didn't mean he could have any input.

He moved around to stand beside Kristin. Beckman didn't waste any time getting to the point. "Lucas, can you tell me what happened the night of Samuel Aroro's death?"

"I had been invited to go and have dinner with Samuel and Micah. Apparently it was Mrs Berriman's night off so we were going out for something to eat. I was in Micah's room with him when I heard this noise. It sounded like pistol shots, but that just seemed too weird so I went out to find out what it was. Micah ran out ahead of me and he … … he …" Lucas squeezed his eyes shut as the image slammed into his mind.

"Take your time," Beckman knew what was coming, but he needed it on record.

"Micah was in the middle of the room and Samuel was slumped across the lounge."

When Lucas didn't speak further, Beckman prompted him. "What happened then?"

"I grabbed Micah and ran."

"Didn't you check to see if Samuel was still alive?"

Lucas shook his head forcefully. "He was dead! When somebody's brain tissue is lying beside them it's kinda obvious CPR isn't going to help."

Kristin looked over at the monitor and noted his vitals had all jumped. Nothing dangerous though, so she stayed put and kept a close eye on it.

"So where were you taking Micah when you left the room?"

"I wasn't really taking him anywhere. I just wanted to get him out of the room. Once we were outside I wondered if the person responsible could still be around. I figured I needed to get him someplace safe."

"So when you left the Aroro family quarters you weren't planning to remove Micah from the colony?"

"No! That happened later. When they started shooting at us!"

"Who was shooting at you?" Jess leaned forward in her chair. "And do you know why they were shooting?"

"Colony guards I guess. I didn't exactly stop and wait to find out!"

"So once you had decided to leave the colony, why did you take Micah to Node Three? Why not return to the _seaQuest?_"

Bridger inwardly cringed as Lucas answered that one. "Because the _seaQuest _was gone."

"But you could have radioed them, couldn't you?"

Lucas shook his head. "No, the Stinger has a limited range and the _seaQuest _was well out of range. And besides, I didn't know who was tracking me and I didn't want to let them know where I was."

Beckman continued on the line of inquiry, trying to piece all the details together. "So, I understand you have friends at the Node. Why not stay there and call the _seaQuest _from there?"

Lucas looked across at the captain. He knew others had been asking that same question. "You have to understand … I was being shot at … I intercepted a radio transmission saying that Micah was dead and they were going to blast me out of the water! Somebody was lying and I had no idea who I could trust. I just knew I could get Micah to a safe place and the Node was my best chance."

Chua leaned forward again. "That still doesn't explain why you didn't stay there?"

"I didn't want to take the risk of calling Nick by radio and letting any of them know where I was. I also knew that if Nick or Julianna saw me they'd try to make me stay. I had to get back to the colony."

"Why? If they were shooting at you and trying to destroy your vessel why would you want to go back?"

"I found some information." Lucas closed his eyes and sucked in a slow breath.

Kristin quickly moved over to the bed. "Are you all right? Do you need a rest?"

He looked back at her and shook his head. "No. I want to finish this."

While she didn't object, she also didn't move away.

Beckman nodded towards him. "Keep going Lucas. What information did you find?

"Odd inventory items. Files that were seemingly misfiled but actually weren't. I realised somebody was hiding something, but I didn't know who, or what. Then one day I found an internex connection. The captain told me there wasn't one on the colony but there quite clearly was. I asked Samuel about it and the next day Daniel turned up in the Control Room. He was furious and he told me to stay out of things that were none of my business."

Bridger looked across at Kristin. That was like waving a red rag at a bull!

Beckman just smiled slightly. "I'm guessing you didn't though."

Lucas looked vaguely guilty as he looked up at the captain. "Well, I knew something was wrong so I kept digging. That's when I found the information about the cinnabar. Somebody was talking to a mining company called Zalco so I asked Samuel about it. He said he would look into it."

"And did he come back to you with anything?"

"No. That night he was dead! I got him killed." The last words came out in a whisper, but they all heard it anyway.

Bridger moved across the space before Beckman could stop him. "No Lucas, you didn't do anything of the sort!"

"Captain, need I remind you that you are here as an observer only?"

Bridger glared at him, but kept his mouth shut. He sat down on the bed and half expected Beckman would tell him to move. Instead the man turned back to focus on Lucas.

"So you didn't know who was in contact with Zalco?"

"No, but I knew what they were planning. Some idiot was planning to mine cinnabar this close to a colony. I had to warn them."

"Warn who?"

"The people of Hope Colony."

"What exactly were you planning to do?"

"Planning?" Lucas laughed harshly at the idea. "I wasn't _planning _anything. I got shot, remember? I just knew I didn't have time to sit around and wait for the _seaQuest _to come back. Once they released mercury into the water it would be too late."

The two investigators looked at each other and a silent agreement passed between them. Beckman stepped forward towards the bed.

"Lucas, everything you have just told us supports the information we have already gathered. In fact, Samuel made note of this information as well and apparently he confronted his brother Daniel about his contact with Zalco Minerals."

"When?"

"The afternoon of his death."

Lucas closed his eyes and tried to squeeze out the guilt that bombarded him.

Beckman continued on. "We have more than enough evidence to charge Daniel Aroro with his brother's murder and your kidnapping, Captain. Mark Pederson will be facing charges as well; just as soon as we determine the extent of his involvement. We believe there may have been others involved and we are still digging."

"So what about the charges against Lucas?"

"They have all been proven baseless and I am recommending they be dropped."

Kristin reached out to hug him, but Lucas didn't move. "It doesn't bring him back."

Beckman nodded but declined to answer. After years in his job he had seen far too many situations like this. Victims were still victims and the best he could hope to do was make sure the guilty were held accountable.

"I'll be working through the formalities today, Lucas. I'll let you know as soon as we are done."

Lucas just nodded as the captain escorted the two investigators out of the room.

The effort of relaying the story, combined with the emotion was beginning to take its toll. Lucas felt himself sinking back against the pillow. He cringed at the pain that rolled down his side. As Kristin quickly moved in to administer a dose of painkillers Lucas grabbed at her arm.

"So that's it? It's back to business as usual from here?"

"Lucas, they've just exonerated you from a murder charge! Isn't that enough?"

He stared at her in frustration. "What happens to Micah? I mean the kid lost his mother and now he's lost his father and uncle. So no! It's not enough that I'm off the hook." He flinched as the pain intensified across his abdomen and Kristin reached out to calm him.

She sat down on the bed and took hold of his hand. "You need to settle down, Lucas. I know you are worried about Micah and God knows he's been through too much, but as I understand it, Liza Berriman has asked if he can go to live with her and her husband. She has been onboard with Micah and they have been making arrangements for him already."

"Has he started talking yet?"

"Not yet. He was in shock when I first examined him. Totally understandable given what had happened to him. But with care and support he will be all right. From what I understand, she has been caring for him since his mother died. She loves him like a son."

While she was talking she could feel Lucas gripping her hand against the pain. As he started to relax she could feel the intensity of his grip loosening slightly. She was waiting for the pain meds to start to take effect and finally she could see it in his eyes.

She reached out to touch his cheek and his eyelids began to droop. "You need to sleep."

"Mmm, guess so," he nodded slowly.

She stayed seated well past when he had obviously drifted off. She shuddered to think where Micah would be if Lucas had not been there. Would he have been another casualty in the whole awful mess?

* * *

Nick dropped his bag on the floor by the door and wandered into the Medbay. He could see that Julianna had already beaten him there. He hesitated about interrupting the conversation going on across the room, but he was too slow making a decision. Before he could make a quiet exit he was spotted.

"Wolfman!"

For a while there he had wondered if he would ever hear Lucas call him that again. "Franky, when are they gonna let you out of prison?" He grinned at his friend as he walked across the room, but underneath the joke was serious concern.

"Well the warder says another few days at least. But I might get time off for good behaviour."

"You've better not let Kristin hear you say that or you'll never get out of here!" Doctor Levin smiled at his patient as moved back around the bed. He knew when it was time to get out of the way and he happily walked off to allow the trio of teenagers to say goodbye in private.

Nick chose not to comment on the fact that Julianna was sitting on the bed and holding tight to Lucas' hand. For his part Lucas still looked tired and it seemed to be an effort to stay sitting upright. "Our ride is about set to leave."

She just nodded at him, but made no effort to move.

Nick reached out a hand towards Lucas and the two of them locked hands in a handshake known only to them. "Next time you wanna come visit, can you make it a little less dramatic?"

Lucas smiled at his friend. "I'll try." The smile quickly faded as his thoughts turned serious. "Thanks for taking care of Micah."

"No problem. Take it easy." Nick turned back to Julianna and nudged her arm. "We have to go."

"Yep."

Nick waited for her to move, but she just looked at him.

"Oh, um … yeah. I'll wait for you outside." He turned and headed for the door, but he could hear Julianna trying not to laugh.

She turned back to see Lucas watching her closely. He sagged back against the pillows and tried to keep the pain from showing on his face. She tried to smile, but the intensity of the last few days was still taking its toll. She twined her fingers around his and felt the warmth of his hand in hers.

"I have to go," she whispered.

Lucas chewed his lip as he watched her face. "I'm sorry … for scaring you."

There didn't seem to be an appropriate answer to that. Instead she leaned in towards him. She could feel his breath on her face and she hesitated. The last time she had kissed him was at the Sanger Institute and that hadn't gone as planned. Now he was attached to medical monitoring equipment and she was acutely aware he was still in pain.

Lucas squeezed her hand and lifted his head towards her. He closed his eyes as his lips brushed against hers.

From the far side of the room Levin looked up as he heard the monitor beep faster. He vaguely remembered the intensity of a teenage romance and he couldn't help but smile.

* * *

"Are you ready?"

Bridger looked across the room as Lucas tried to pull on a shoe without twisting his body too much. He pulled a face as the movement made him tense up.

"Almost."

"Do you want a hand with that?"

Lucas looked at his shoe and sighed. "It's a long time since I needed someone to tie my laces."

Bridger leaned down in front of the teenager and picked up the other shoe. "Lucas, you may have been discharged, but it's going to take time for you to be back up to speed. Now, give me your foot."

Lucas reluctantly stuck out his foot while the captain slid his shoe on. Quickly tying both laces he couldn't help but empathise with Lucas' frustration. He stood up and just managed to stop himself from holding out a hand. There was no point adding insult to injury. Instead he watched as Lucas tentatively stood up. He knew Kristin was still medicating him and it was going to be quite some time before she stopped.

"OK, the shuttle is waiting for us."

* * *

The short hop across to the colony was something Ben could have done with his eyes closed, but this time he was especially conscious of the currents. He tried to dock as smoothly as possible and he watched closely as Lucas stood up to leave the shuttle. He hated watching the normally larger-than-life teenager still having trouble with even the simplest things. He briefly wondered how they had managed to get Westphalen to sign off on this.

As Lucas walked out through the docking hatch he felt a momentary fear that he didn't want to be returning there after all. He tried to block out the anxiety that was rising in his mind, but he couldn't keep out the images that came unbidden. He felt the captain's steadying hand on his elbow and slowly began to move forward again.

With the _seaQuest _having finished up their duties at the colony it was time for them to leave. Despite serious misgivings about returning to the place of his nightmares, Lucas knew he needed to see for himself. As he moved out into the colony's launch bay he glanced around the room. The last time he was there he had rigged a false alarm and barely escaped in one piece.

He didn't notice Liza Berriman had entered the room behind him until he felt a hand tugging at his. He looked down to see Micah staring up at him. Lucas slowly dropped down to his knees in front of the child. Micah only hesitated for a moment before flinging his arms around the teenager's neck. In spite of the pain, Lucas wrapped his arms around him. Micah whispered something in his ear and Lucas broke out in a grin.

"Well let's go and get some then." He awkwardly stood up and grabbed hold of Micah's hand. "Show me the way!"

The captain looked at him and smiled. "Where are we going?"

"Apparently Mrs Berriman made us cake."

Bridger turned to look at the woman standing beside him. "He's talking?"

"A little." She gestured towards the door. "I think we'd better go, Captain. You can't keep a starving child waiting."

**A/N After all that's happened I really didn't know where to wrap this up, but this seemed as good a place as any. I hope you've enjoyed coming along for the ride. See you next time on the adventures of **_**seaQuest!**_


End file.
